Ant International, Capital A form partnership in digital payments, financial technologies, and sustainability promotion

• Partnership includes Capital A's businesses: AirAsia, AirAsia Move & BigPay
• BigPay partners Alipay+, enabling seamless payments for users traveling abroad

Ant International and Capital A Berhad, owner of AirAsia, have formed a strategic collaboration in various areas. This includes exploring to integrate more local payments methods and providing payment orchestration services to Capital A’s platforms, work on digital marketing and sponsorship opportunities to drive business growth, and cooperate to create inclusive and sustainable impact.

In a joint statement, both parties stated that the comprehensive partnership covers collaborative initiatives between Ant International's Alipay+ cross-border payment, marketing, and digitalisation technology solutions, payment orchestration services, and other business segments, and flagship businesses under Capital A, including AirAsia, the one-stop travel platform AirAsia MOVE, and finance app BigPay.

Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, said, "Ant International’s global recognition as a financial technology powerhouse, coupled with their expertise, is poised to propel rapid growth for our fintech venture BigPay and our online travel app AirAsia Move. Both entities are dedicated to agile expansion, and this partnership promises to accelerate our collective mission of providing seamless financial services and affordable travel experiences to our customers worldwide.”

Meanwhile, Yang Peng, CEO of Ant International, said, “We are excited to join hands with Capital A to start a new chapter of cross-industry digitalisation, building on the strong synergy between us. By leveraging Ant International’s innovative digital technology solutions and Capital A’s robust global ecosystem, we can bring more seamless services and diversified growth pathways for consumers and businesses in the region and beyond.”

Both sides have agreed that AirAsia Move will work with Ant International to integrate Alipay+ e-wallets as payment options within the Move payment flows, and explore the use of various wallet tech including super app related solutions as well as developing mini-program within Alipay+ ecosystem.

In addition, AirAsia Move will work with Ant International and its partners to leverage its user base to promote AirAsia Move’s services. This could involve targeted promotions, exclusive deals for Alipay+ partner wallet users, and cross-platform visibility for AirAsia MOVE’s services within the Alipay+ ecosystem. AirAsia MOVE and Ant International will also work on joint marketing opportunities and sponsorship opportunities for events such as UEFA Euro 2024.

The two sides also agreed that BigPay will become the latest Alipay+ partner wallet, allowing its 1.5 million users to pay seamlessly when they travel abroad. It will also explore using Alipay+ wallet tech, including fraud prevention and other innovative technologies, to develop an even stronger super app.

In the meantime, its airline entity AirAsia will leverage Ant International’s Airline Controller orchestration solution to drive payment efficiency and work with Ant International to enable the acceptance of payment methods for online, offline, and in-flight checkout.

Presently, Capital A offers over 20 different products and services leveraging each other, including the airline group - AirAsia Aviation Group, AirAsia Move, and BigPay fintech services, serving over 700 million people in the region.

Introduced in 2020, Ant Internation claims that its Alipay+ Cross-border Mobile Payment Service connects over 88 million merchants in 57 countries and regions to 1.5 billion consumer accounts on over 25 e-wallets and banking apps, allowing consumers to travel and pay worry-free globally, and merchants to build out cross-border consumer engagement and digital marketing.

The service builds on its regional partnerships, including those with national QR schemes such as Singapore’s SGQR, Malaysia’s PayNet, South Korea’s ZeroPay, Sri Lanka's LankaPay, and Cambodia’s KHQR.

The firm stated that both parties will also promote sustainability initiatives such as advancing global digital inclusion, cultivating digital talent, and promoting sustainable travel programs, as agreed upon by the two companies.