Singapore lender DBS and payment firm Ant International have agreed to deepen their existing strategic collaboration to jointly explore innovative payments, digitization and fintech solutions aimed at providing more inclusive services for regional businesses of all sizes and individual consumers.
The duo said in a statement that the collaboration will leverage DBS’ digital banking capabilities and Ant International’s cutting-edge financial technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, to scale cross-border payments, strengthen connectivity and drive innovations in the financial ecosystem.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was inked for committing DBS and Ant International’s key businesses – Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst and Bettr Platform Tech – to a comprehensive partnership spanning several areas of strategic cooperation.
These areas of collaboration include boosting cross-border payments connectivity; exploring near-instant remittances to 1.8 billion consumer accounts on Alipay+; supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on their digital transformation journey; fostering innovation in regional fintech ecosystems.
Firstly, DBS PayLah! will join the Alipay+ payments ecosystem, enabling over three million DBS PayLah! users to make QR codes payments to more than 150 million merchants in over 100 markets.
Secondly, Ant International and DBS are currently exploring a bank-to-wallet solution that enables real-time remittances between DBS customers and more than 1.8 billion user accounts on the Alipay+ ecosystem.
The solution will use ISO 20022 messaging standards and leverage the SWIFT network.
Both organizations are also exploring further innovative solutions to enhance and simplify remittances between DBS customers and Alipay+ ecosystem users.
Thirdly, DBS will partner with Antom, Ant International’s unified merchant payment and digitization services provider, to explore potential solutions that can meaningfully support SMEs in advancing their digital transformation journey.
An example being considered includes the Model Context Protocol (MCP)-based Antom Agentic Payment solution, which integrates Antom’s unique Alternative Payment Method checkout capabilities, industry-leading payment mandate model, and trusted AI technologies.
DBS will also work with WorldFirst to scale up same-day and near-instant cross-border payments solutions for SME clients.
Fourthly, DBS and Ant International further reiterated their shared commitment to driving innovation in the financial sector, by deepening their existing collaboration on tokenized deposits
“We are proud to deepen our partnership with DBS, whom we have already been working closely with since 2013, on various initiatives including SME payment solutions and most recently, tokenized deposits,
“With a shared vision on enhancing inclusive growth for local and regional commerce, as well as nurturing local innovation and talent, we look forward to bringing our know-how in payments and digitalization together to create even stronger synergy to continuously boost the digital economy in this region. Together, we’ll make a difference to the region by driving inclusive and sustainable growth,” said Peng Yang, Chief Executive Officer of Ant International.
Meanwhile, Tan Su Shan, Chief Executive Officer of DBS, said the duo are a truly like-minded partner in purpose-driven innovation, having demonstrated a shared vision for leveraging cutting-edge technology to create more efficient and inclusive financial ecosystems.
“By synergizing our strengths, we can unlock new avenues for growth, accelerate future- ready solutions like tokenized deposits and agentic payments – and reimagine the future of finance to drive greater impact for our clients and customers,” he added.