by Fintech News Singapore
March 19, 2024
Payment giant Mastercard has announced a new partnership with Ant Group’s digital open platform Alipay to expand its cross-border payment services to facilitate quicker and more secure money transfers to China.
Mastercard’s initiative is expected to be a boon for consumers seeking reliable ways to conduct global transactions.
According to the company’s Borderless Payments Report, a majority of consumers expressed a preference for online international payments, citing speed and security as their primary motivations.
The company’s Mastercard Move service, connecting nearly 10 billion endpoints globally, including bank accounts and digital wallets, is part of this effort.
It allows financial institutions to offer their customers international payment options to over 180 markets and a network covering more than 150 currencies and 3.5 billion account holders.
The portfolio combines Mastercard’s existing and future money movement capabilities including Mastercard Send and Mastercard Cross-Border services.
Dennis Chang
Dennis Chang, Division President, Greater China, Mastercard said,
“China is already one of the largest recipient countries worldwide for international remittances. As global economic activities continue to recover, demand for cross-border payments will only increase.
With this new connection, Mastercard is pleased to expand its partnership with Alipay to enable people around the world to easily make international fund transfers to China in near real-time, simplifying the transaction for senders as well as receivers.”
Alan Marquard
Alan Marquard, Head of Transfer Solutions at Mastercard said,
“Mastercard’s connection to Alipay, a super-app serving over 1 billion users in China, is an important addition to its international payments offering, enabling its bank, fintech and corporate customers globally to offer their customers a connection to this popular e-wallet in near real-time.
Disbursements and remittances are a key area of growth for Mastercard, and the company continues to develop its solutions across geographies, always with the objectives to make payments faster, safer and more convenient and to foster financial inclusion.”
The collaboration emerges in response to a recent prohibition in Singapore on fund transfers to China via non-bank and non-card channels, a regulation that impacted many, especially Chinese nationals who faced challenges with conventional remittance services, including the freezing of funds amid money laundering probes.