Ant International: Sustainability in Digital Payments

Ant International, a leading global provider of digital payments, digitisation and financial technology solutions, has released its 2025 Sustainability Report – its second since becoming an independent entity.

This year also marks the first time the company has embedded sustainability metrics into its management performance evaluation framework.

As Eric Jing, Chairman of Ant Group and Ant International, stated: “Accountability must be structural, not aspirational. When sustainability outcomes are valued as much as revenue growth or operational efficiency, the whole organisation is more likely to align accordingly – just like how it might work with entire economies.”

Within the company’s 6Ts Sustainability Framework (Travel, Trade, Thrive, Tech, Talent, Trust), inclusion continues to serve as the central objective.

“Our success relies on our ability to innovate for small businesses and emerging markets to thrive above social and technological shifts. Doing great by doing good should be our strategic differentiator,” said Peng Yang, CEO, and Douglas Feagin, President, at the report’s launch.

The company’s global payment platforms, Alipay+ and Antom, now connect two billion user accounts with more than 150 million merchants worldwide. This interoperable ecosystem links over 10 national QR systems and supports more than 300 payment methods across more than 220 markets, including all major card schemes and 50 digital wallets, bank apps, and BNPL services.

Beyond payments, WorldFirst and Bettr – Ant International’s global account and embedded finance services – support more than 1.6 million SMEs and provide credit access to 30 million MSMEs and underserved users, while integrating advanced AI and blockchain capabilities.

Inclusion metrics are now systematically embedded into major innovation initiatives, including SME-focused agentic payment solutions, AI commerce tools, AI-as-a-Service platforms for emerging markets and EPOS SME AI solutions.

“We will continue to double down on responsible innovation and collaboration to achieve our shared vision: a more inclusive, prosperous, and trustful global economy,” said Peng.

In 2025, Ant International focused its sustainability efforts on three priority areas across the 6T framework:

Democratising FinAI for SMEs and emerging markets

The company introduced a suite of AI tools designed to ensure that SMEs and emerging markets can access and benefit from AI without requiring significant infrastructure or investment.

Payment AI & Agentic Commerce:

• Antom Copilot 2.0 streamlines payment integration, onboarding, risk management, and chargeback resolution within a secure, automated workflow.
• The Antom Agentic Payment Solution enables AI agents to securely initiate and complete both card-based and alternative payment transactions through an innovative payment mandate model.

FinAI Capacity Building:

• The FinAI-as-a-Service platform, GenAI Cockpit, provides fintechs – including Malaysia’s TNG eWallet and Pakistan’s easypaisa – with toolkits to develop flexible, autonomous AI commerce solutions ranging from customer service assistants to sales copilots.
• Custom-built agentic AI tools such as Alipay+ Voyager serve as AI-powered travel companions embedded within super apps.
• An open-source AI FX solution delivers foreign exchange forecasts with up to 93% accuracy across volatile currency markets.
• EPOS360, an AI-powered platform for SME operations and financing, has been launched across Southeast Asia.

Enhancing compliance and technology foundations of trust

In 2025, Ant International significantly increased investment in anti-money laundering (AML) technologies and security partnerships.

Its SHIELD 3-in-1 Transformer model, built on seven billion parameters, detects high-risk transactions with over 95% precision while improving payment success rates by up to 13.5%.

The Digital Wallet Guardian Partnership enables wallet providers to share risk technologies, anti-fraud capabilities and fund protection solutions to better safeguard users and merchants.

The Alipay+ Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET) programme has been recognised by Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission as a practical example for industry adoption.

At the same time, the company continues to reinforce governance and compliance structures. In 2025, Ant International expanded:

• Its Risk Management Committee mechanism, which ensures comprehensive risk governance from corporate to operational levels.
• Its three-layered Anti-Money Laundering programme, anchored in global minimum control standards to maintain consistency and integrity across markets, supported by AI-powered risk detection and security review tools.

Ant International plans to further scale its global and local compliance investments to address evolving regulatory and risk environments.

Digitalising public participation to drive social impact

In 2025, the company collaborated with partners from New York to West Java to launch grassroots initiatives supporting youth development, environmental protection, and community resilience through digital innovation.

As the Innovation Partner for Sustainability of the New York Liberty, Alipay+ supported initiatives including Liberty Sneaker Drives for underserved communities, the Math Hoops programme for youth education, and the Threes for Trees environmental campaign across NYC and Brooklyn.

AlipayHK established a primary digital fundraising channel following the Tai Po fire, raising HK$200m (US$25.6m) from 450,000 users within three days.

Ocean Buddy, an in-app programme developed with DANA and Konservasi Indonesia, uses gamification to connect everyday digital activity with whale shark conservation efforts.

The 10x1000 Tech for Inclusion programme, delivered in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and over 50 global partners, has certified 9,504 participants since 2018, with women representing 55% of participants.

“Sustainability is increasingly becoming our primary driver of responsible innovation,” said Leiming Chen, Chief Sustainability Officer of Ant International.

“We will work together to ensure that as we expand globally, our progress remains inclusive, measurable, and impactful for the communities we serve.”

About Ant International

Ant International is a leading global provider of digital payments, digitisation, and financial technology solutions.

Through collaboration across public and private sectors, its unified techfin platform enables financial institutions and merchants of all sizes to drive inclusive growth through a comprehensive suite of advanced digital payment and financial service solutions.