Singapore’s Ant International has received a payment-institution license from Brazil’s central bank, expanding its regulated presence in the country’s payments market.

In a statement on Friday, Ant International said the licence, granted by Banco Central do Brasil, builds on services Ant International already provides in Brazil through Antom, its merchant-payment and digitization platform. Antom lets merchants accept the Pix instant-payment system, credit cards, and a range of other payment methods.

Rodrigo Reif, general manager of Ant International Brazil, said the license would let the company offer more comprehensive payment and account services to enterprises, platforms, and smaller businesses in Brazil, working with the country’s payments ecosystem. The license can strengthen its local and cross-border payment capabilities in the market, the executive added.

The move comes as Brazil tightens oversight of international payments, moving to require firms that offer cross-border payment services to hold payment-institution authorization.

Ant International provides cross-border payments, account services, embedded credit and treasury services, and blockchain, and AI-based tools to clients in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It processes more than 20 million transactions a day and connects 2 billion consumer accounts to 150 million merchants through its payment network.

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