Eric Jing Xiandong, chairman and CEO of Ant Group, is doubling down on global expansion of the fintech giant and has reiterated the company’s determination to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Jing told the Singapore Fintech Festival on Thursday that it is time for Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, to seek more growth in overseas markets after it unveiled a four-pronged global expansion strategy on Tuesday to push outwards from its new Singapore office. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
“The opportunity is about innovation using technology to make financial services accessible to everyone, to every SME. That’s our journey,” said Jing.
Under its international expansion strategy, Jing said that Ant is working with partners to support growth in four areas – travel, trade, technology and talent. “We are sharing AI-driven risk tech, credit tech and payment tech with partners in an open collaborative ecosystem,” Jing said.
Ant International, the international business unit of Ant that sited its headquarters in the city state in September, said it will boost “digital payments and digital commerce” through Alipay+, its cross-border mobile payments service, along with other services for sellers and SMEs.
Jing told Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, that Ant – which has undergone several years of regulatory pressure in China – will try to win the trust of regulators in other countries via transparency, high standards of compliance and efforts to help the local economy.
“When we go to a new market, it is not about making quick profits or taking money away. For us, it is always about making an enduring commitment and sustained contribution to the local economy,” he said.
Ant’s mega-IPO plan in Shanghai and Hong Kong in late 2020 was called off at the eleventh hour as China’s financial authorities pumped out a new wave of regulations, including tougher capital adequacy requirements. The changes clipped the wings of Ant’s credit businesses and set back its efforts to go public.
Jing’s speech highlighted Ant’s success in promoting the use of QR codes for mobile payments as well as Yu’er Bao, a money-market fund product known as the “one RMB fund” that allows retail investors to invest in China’s money markets.
Jing showered praise on Singapore, calling it “not only a regional but also a global innovation hub”. Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam paid a visit to Ant’s booth at the event on Wednesday, signalling support for the fintech giant.
The 50-year-old Jing, who joined Alibaba in 2007 and became CEO of Ant Group in 2016, said he hoped people would remember his company and not him.
“People should remember Ant not me. Ant has had many different CEOs along the journey, the company will be evergreen,” said Jing. “I hope people will say it’s a good company that makes peoples’ lives a little better.”