Ant International, Standard Chartered Bank, and Swift have started live production trials for a new bank-to-wallet payment solution. The initiative uses ISO 20022 financial messaging standards and is supported by Swift’s infrastructure. The first transactions were completed between a Standard Chartered Bank customer account and a partner e-wallet through Alipay+, Ant International’s wallet gateway service.
The new solution aims to simplify global money transfers by connecting the Swift network of over 11,500 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories to 1.7 billion user accounts on the 36 digital wallets within the Alipay+ ecosystem. This is expected to benefit users in fast-growing Asian markets.
Michael Spiegel, Global Head of Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered, said: “We are pleased to be the bank of choice to conceptualise, test and deliver this innovation. It is testament to the versatility of our banking platform and our strategic relationship with both Swift and Ant International. We will continue to push the boundaries of finance to shape the future of our industry, securely and in compliance with regulatory requirements.”
Kevin Wong, Chief Executive, Asia Pacific at Swift, stated: “In a world of fast-moving innovation with a growing number of ways to move value, consumers and businesses expect more choice and optionality in their international payments experience. Swift is at the forefront of providing a best-in class experience with greater flexibility and choice. This collaboration with Ant International and Standard Chartered reflects that strategic commitment to faster, frictionless payments across multiple networks.“
Jacques Xu, General Manager of Global Remittance at Ant International added: “We are very excited to be part of this ground-breaking multilateral collaboration with Swift, banking leaders and Alipay+ e-wallet partners to facilitate bank-to-wallet transactions on a global scale. Ant International will continue to support such cross-sector collaboration with fintech innovations, to build a more connected payment and financial ecosystem for businesses and consumers with ever higher standards of transparency and security, as part of our focus on promoting global interoperability and inclusion.”
Ant International operates from Singapore with main operations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Its unified techfin platform supports financial institutions and merchants globally.
Alipay+ serves as Ant International’s wallet gateway offering cross-border payment services that connect merchants worldwide with consumers using various digital wallets while traveling abroad.
Swift is headquartered in Belgium as a member-owned cooperative providing secure financial messaging services for over 11,500 organizations worldwide. It offers products for messaging integration as well as business intelligence solutions supporting access needs for its community.