Ant International
Ant Group's Singapore-based international platform for digital payments, merchant technology, and cross-border financial services.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Ant International is the Singapore-based international business platform of Ant Group. Established in 2023 and subsequently reorganized as an independently operated company within Ant Group's broader structure, it serves merchants, financial institutions, digital platforms, and businesses involved in international trade. Its activities extend across digital payments, payment-network connectivity, merchant acquiring technology, cross-border collections, treasury services, and related financial technology. The platform's principal offerings include Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst, and Bettr. Alipay+ connects participating merchants with a range of overseas digital wallets and other payment methods, allowing travelers and consumers to use familiar payment applications across borders. Antom is the merchant-facing payments brand, supporting online and offline acceptance, payment integration, and tools for businesses with international operations. WorldFirst provides cross-border payment and treasury services, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, e-commerce sellers, marketplace merchants, and companies that need to collect, hold, convert, and send funds in multiple currencies. Bettr is associated with the integration of credit and related financial services into third-party digital platforms. Ant International's business model is based primarily on infrastructure and technology services for payments and financial institutions rather than on a single consumer-facing application. Its systems are intended to connect payment methods, support merchant acceptance, simplify international business payments, and enable financial services to be embedded in commercial platforms. WorldFirst's product set includes a multi-currency World Account, the World Card virtual-card solution, local collection capabilities, e-commerce and marketplace integrations, and enterprise tools for cross-border financial management. The company also describes AI SHIELD as an artificial-intelligence-based security system designed to help detect and address potentially fraudulent activity in payment processing. The company has pursued cooperation with international banks and financial institutions. Publicly described collaborations include work with Deutsche Bank and other institutions on financial technology and stablecoin-related initiatives, collaboration with Barclays on artificial-intelligence models for foreign-exchange forecasting and treasury functions, a tokenized-deposit initiative with HSBC in Hong Kong, and cooperation with BNP Paribas on cross-border payment infrastructure in Europe. The specific commercial scope and regulatory status of individual initiatives can vary by jurisdiction. WorldFirst predates Ant International. It was founded in the United Kingdom in 2004 to simplify foreign-exchange and international payment processes for small and medium-sized businesses. It developed an online platform, expanded into e-commerce and corporate foreign exchange, and opened overseas offices beginning with Sydney in 2009. It later established operations in additional markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands, Japan, and South Korea. WorldFirst joined Ant Group in 2019 and was incorporated into Ant Group's international business organization during the 2024 restructuring. It subsequently expanded its regional footprint, including entry into Thailand and licensing developments in Malaysia. Public disclosures do not provide a complete standalone financial profile for Ant International. Revenue, valuation, profitability, customer totals, market share, and the precise legal relationship among its brands are therefore not stated here unless specifically documented. Ant International's international position is best understood as a business-to-business financial technology platform combining payment connectivity, merchant services, and cross-border financial tools under the Ant Group umbrella.
History
Ant International was created in 2023 as Ant Group's international business platform. Its formation reflected Ant Group's effort to organize and expand activities outside mainland China, particularly in digital payments, merchant technology, and financial services for international businesses. The platform is headquartered in Singapore and operates across several major regions, including Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. In March 2024, Ant Group announced a restructuring of portions of its operations into independently managed business units. Ant International consequently became an independently operated company within the group. The reorganization also brought WorldFirst, the cross-border payments and treasury business acquired by Ant Group in 2019, into the international organization. WorldFirst had originated in the United Kingdom in 2004, initially focusing on foreign-exchange services for small and medium-sized enterprises. It launched an online platform during 2007–2008, expanded into e-commerce and corporate foreign exchange, and began international expansion with an office in Sydney in 2009. Further offices and operations followed in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands, Japan, and South Korea. Ant International's portfolio combines several types of financial technology. Alipay+ connects participating merchants with overseas wallets and payment methods. Antom provides merchant payment acceptance and integration services. WorldFirst offers international business accounts, multi-currency collections, foreign-exchange and treasury tools, marketplace integrations, and virtual-card capabilities. Bettr supports the embedding of credit services into third-party platforms. Ant International also uses AI SHIELD as a security and fraud-management system associated with payment processing. The company has described partnerships with global financial institutions in areas including cross-border payment infrastructure, tokenized deposits, stablecoin-related technology, foreign-exchange forecasting, and treasury management. These collaborations include work involving Deutsche Bank, Barclays, HSBC, and BNP Paribas. Regulatory permissions and the availability of particular services differ by market. In 2025, WorldFirst expanded into Thailand and obtained Malaysian authorization to operate through a license from Bank Negara Malaysia. Publicly available material does not establish a complete chronology of Ant International's internal management, legal entities, financial performance, or market-by-market operations. No standalone revenue, profit, valuation, customer count, or market-share figures are included in this dossier without a sufficiently specific public source.
- 2025
WorldFirst expands in Southeast Asia
[1]WorldFirst entered Thailand and secured Malaysian regulatory authorization to operate in Malaysia.
- 2024
International operations reorganized
[1]Ant Group's restructuring made Ant International an independently operated company and placed WorldFirst within its international group.
- 2023
Ant International is established
[1]Ant Group created Ant International as the platform for its international digital-payment and financial-technology activities.
- 2019
WorldFirst joins Ant Group
[1]WorldFirst became part of Ant Group, adding its cross-border payments and treasury capabilities to Ant's international portfolio.
- 2009
WorldFirst begins overseas expansion
[1]WorldFirst opened its first overseas office in Sydney and later expanded into additional international markets.
- 2007
WorldFirst launches its online platform
[1]WorldFirst developed an online platform during the 2007–2008 period as it expanded its digital foreign-exchange and business-payment services.
- 2004
WorldFirst founded in the United Kingdom
[1]WorldFirst was established to simplify foreign-exchange and international payment services for small and medium-sized businesses.
Products and positioning
A business-to-business international payments and financial technology platform for merchants, payment institutions, financial institutions, digital platforms, and cross-border enterprises.
Cross-border digital payments
Alipay+
Alipay+ is a cross-border payment connectivity service that helps merchants accept transactions from participating overseas digital wallets and other payment methods. It is designed to reduce the need for merchants to integrate separately with every regional wallet and to support consumers using familiar payment applications while traveling or shopping internationally. Its role within Ant International is primarily network connectivity and merchant acceptance rather than a single-country consumer wallet.
Merchant payment services
Antom
Antom is Ant International's merchant-facing payment services brand. It supports online and offline payment acceptance, payment-method integration, transaction processing, and related tools for businesses operating across borders. The offering is aimed at merchants and digital businesses that need to manage multiple payment methods and markets through a technology and service layer connected to broader international payment networks.
Cross-border payments and treasury · 2004
WorldFirst
WorldFirst provides international payment, foreign-exchange, collection, and treasury services for small and medium-sized enterprises, e-commerce sellers, marketplace merchants, and other cross-border businesses. Its product set includes the multi-currency World Account, the World Card virtual-card solution, local collection capabilities, marketplace integrations, and tools for managing international business funds. WorldFirst was founded in the United Kingdom in 2004 and joined Ant Group in 2019.
Embedded financial services
Bettr
Bettr supports the integration of credit services into third-party digital platforms. It represents Ant International's embedded-finance activity, in which financial capabilities are made available through commercial or technology platforms rather than only through a standalone consumer application. Public information in the supplied material does not establish a complete product specification or market-by-market availability.
Payment security
AI SHIELD
AI SHIELD is an artificial-intelligence-based security system associated with Ant International's payment operations. It is intended to identify and respond to potentially fraudulent activity during payment processing. Detailed technical specifications, performance measurements, and deployment coverage are not established by the supplied public material.
Brand decisions
2024
Move Ant International to an independently operated structureStrategyBackground
Ant Group announced a restructuring of portions of its business into independently managed units.
Action taken
Ant International became an independently operated company within Ant Group's international organization, while WorldFirst moved into the international group.
Aftermath
The change clarified the organizational focus on overseas payments, merchant services, and cross-border financial technology, although public information does not fully detail the resulting legal-entity structure.
2023
Create a unified international business platformStrategyBackground
Ant Group sought to organize its activities outside mainland China around an international platform serving payments, merchants, financial institutions, and cross-border businesses.
Action taken
Ant International was established to bring together international digital-payment, merchant-technology, and financial-services activities.
Aftermath
The platform became the group structure through which offerings such as Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst, and Bettr could be developed and presented to international markets.
Recent events
Reported
SMBC and Ant International sign cross-border payments memorandum[2]
SMBC said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Ant International to cooperate on cross-border payments and support business expansion, focusing on trade flows involving Japan, Singapore and Southeast Asia. The agreement covers financial services for Ant International's payment and account-management businesses and potential cooperation involving its Whale RTP platform; it does not announce a new payment-service launch.
- Unconfirmed
Reported
Ant International launches upgraded Falcon Time-Series Transformer Model 2.0 adopted by global banks[3]
Ant International, a unit of Ant Group, launched an upgraded AI model, the Falcon Time-Series Transformer Model 2.0, designed for financial scenarios. The company said it has partnered with six major banks including Citi, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered and Barclays, and that precise forecasting can cut FX hedging and allocation costs by more than 60%.
- Unconfirmed
Reported
Ant International releases FalconTST 2.0 time-series forecasting model[4]
Ant International released version 2.0 of its self-developed time-series forecasting model FalconTST (Time-Series Transformer), aimed at cross-border payments and foreign-exchange risk management, with plans to expand into e-commerce supply chain and aviation operations. The model reportedly achieved a MASE of 0.666 on a global time-series benchmark and is used by Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered for cash-flow forecasting and FX management.
Sources4 sources
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