Ant International, a global digital payment and financial technology provider, and Standard Chartered Bank have commenced live production trials for a new bank-to-wallet payment solution, utilizing the ISO 20022 financial messaging standards and supported by Swift’s infrastructure.
The initial transactions were successfully completed between a Standard Chartered Bank customer account and a partner e-wallet, leveraging Ant International’s Alipay+ global wallet gateway service. This solution aims to simplify global money transfers by connecting Swift’s network of over 11,500 financial institutions across more than 200 countries and territories to 1.7 billion user accounts within the 36 global digital wallets in the Alipay+ ecosystem, particularly in rapidly growing Asian markets.
Michael Spiegel, Global Head of Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered, stated, “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, commented on the collaboration, noting that “consumers and businesses expect more choice and optionality in their international payments experience.” He added that “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, expressed excitement about the “ground-breaking multilateral collaboration with Swift, banking leaders and Alipay+ e-wallet partners to facilitate bank-to-wallet transactions on a global scale.” He emphasized that Ant International will continue to support such cross-sector collaboration with fintech innovations to build a more connected payment and financial ecosystem with increased transparency and security, focusing on promoting global interoperability and inclusion.
