Ant International continues their global expansion

I just had a great visit to Kuala Lumpur, a place I go to often as I have many friends there. This time I also witnessed the launch of EPOS360, an AI-driven growth platform of Ant International targeted at small businesses.

What is EPOS360?

Well, you can read the press release, but here is my summary. EPOS360 is an all-in-one solution for SMEs, from digital tools to a brand new payment experience. These business owners no long need to navigate complex technology or juggle multiple vendors.

The bit that really got me is when the presenter grabbed a restaurant menu and, in a second, generated an online version of that menu with promotional campaigns. It is truly impressive. It also includes an over-the-counter payment terminal, with a proprietary technology from Ant. Once reserved for card holders, the BlueTap terminal allows tap-to-tap for e-wallets, and acceptance of multiple e-wallets, national QRs and credit cards. Both systems are integrated so SME owners bring together their back and front end operations into a new growth engine.

Launched with TNG eWallet, the system can reach 25 million mobile wallets in Malaysia from day one and has already onboarded many SMEs. TNG Digital, who run the service, is a fintech company established as a joint venture by Ant International.

Interestingly, alongside the launch, Ant International’s President Douglas Feagin – an old friend recently featured in my blog https://thefinanser.com/2023/09/ant-group-creates-an-everywhere-asia-mobile-wallet – shared some regional updates across Southeast Asia in an interview with local media.

How does Ant International differentiate from other payment companies? (question from Meng Liu, Forrester)

In the payment and fintech industries, you're going to have a lot of competition all the time. So I would say in terms of the things that are the major differentiators for us, one is the use of AI and technology to build the application layer for our different businesses.

This is the basis of what was launched with TNG Digital in Malaysia last week. An AI-driven system that can create a sales platform taking instant payments online and offline, with the ability to promote services and marketing campaigns in real-time.

We have a big difference just in terms of scale.

This is the key. Ant International serves over 150 million merchants globally, with about 90% of them being Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). That’s impressive. The launch with TNG Malaysia is the first of many that they are targeting but, just in Malaysia, there are over 1.2 million SMEs, representing about 97% of all businesses in the country.

Doug goes on to say that the third thing that makes them different is their advanced use of blockchain and tokenised deposits.

Moving money efficiently and in a low-cost fashion is something that's key for us.

Same for most of us, isn’t it?

The interesting thing for me that came out of this conference is that Ant now has many different legs to the company ranging from Alipay in China; to Alipay+ across multiple geographies; to Ant International offering AI-driven, tokenised-deposit-based global payment infrastructure across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Equally, their focus is International and, specifically in Southeast Asia where Ant is a major presence:

Malaysia

• Rapid digital payment adoption.
• Strong Alipay+ wallet and PayNet/DuitNow QR integration.
• Tourism-driven cross-border payment growth.
• New Malaysia business centre in Kuala Lumpur (TRX), hiring hundreds of staff.
• EPOS360 SME solution just launched in Malaysia.

Vietnam

• Major infrastructure investment to meet local processing requirements.
• First market for Antom/2C2P enterprise offline payment solutions.
• Riding new national QR standard and government fintech initiatives.

Indonesia

• Long-term partnership with DANA e-wallet.
• Working with Bank Indonesia on cross-border wallet payments.
• Expanding Alipay+, Antom, and Bettr (credit) step-by-step under regulation.

Thailand

• Early and strategic market for Ant International.
• Tourism-driven cross-border payments a major growth engine.
• Enterprise merchant services via Antom and 2C2P.
• Bettr lending and SME solutions planned.
• Digital banking licences in Thailand expected to broaden financial inclusion and cross-border opportunities.

Philippines

• GCash partnership supports international tap-to-pay via Alipay+.
• QR remains dominant locally; tap-to-pay growing among large merchants.

We need to watch this space. If you want to know more, just email me: chris@thefinanser.com