Alipay parent Ant Financial detailed plans to step up its global expansion by making further investments in mobile payment providers across other markets.
In an interview with Bloomberg the company’s head of international operations, Douglas Feagin, said Ant was “actively assessing” opportunities in other countries and expects to release details of new partnerships later in 2017.
The company made a number of moves to diversify its interests outside of its domestic Chinese market during the last six months. In addition to Ant’s significant stake in Indian mobile wallet service Paytm, the company initiated deals with companies in Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.
Ant’s ambitions also extend outside of Asia, with the company currently attempting to acquire US remittance company Moneygram.
While looking for investment opportunities in new markets, Ant simultaneously increased the global footprint of its core Alipay brand by signing a number of agreements with international retailers to widen its acceptance.
During the interview, Feagin said its stake in Paytm had been the company’s most important contributor to its international expansion so far, but talked-up the growth potential for its partnerships in Thailand and the Philippines.
Discussions on its global ambitions come as analytics firm App Annie reported Alipay had now been caught by rival service WeChat Pay in terms of user engagement in China.
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