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Ant International hits 2 billion payments in emerging markets
Ant International processed over 2 billion digital cross-border transactions in 2025 for merchants in Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, as it expanded its AI-driven payments and commerce solutions in these markets.
Ant International reported that its Alipay+ service now connects over 1.8 billion user accounts through 40 international payment partners across more than 100 markets.
The company said its blockchain platform processed over US$600 billion in cross-border fund transfers last year, with more than 95% completed on the same day.
🔗 Source: Ant International
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Ant International processed over 2 billion cross-border transactions with total payment value and take rate unknown
- News reports list over 2 billion cross-border transactions and 1.8 billion users yet skip Total Payment Volume (TPV) 1.
- Ant International expects $3.7 billion in 2025 revenue, 10% of Ant Group’s total (Ant Group is Ant International’s parent company) 1.
- Investors need TPV growth versus 2024 and a regional breakdown; sub-$10 transactions rose 37% in H1 2025, which signals smaller tickets that pad counts without equal revenue 2.
- The firm has not shared take rates (the percentage fee earned per transaction), so investors cannot tell whether margins match 1.5%-3% cross-border fees or sit nearer China’s 0.3%-0.6% domestic rates 3.
POS vendors and merchant SaaS can focus where Alipay+ is live
- POS hardware makers and Payment Service Provider (PSP) aggregators can tap Mastercard Near Field Communication (NFC), spurring acceptance at over 150 million merchants 4.
- Transactions via national QR codes nearly doubled in H1 2025 so scheme operators with acquiring banks in South Korea plus Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Sri Lanka should push Alipay+ QR acceptance to win tourist spending 5.
- Merchant SaaS platforms for travel, Food and Beverage (F&B) plus beauty can add mini-programs, apps in wallets; K-beauty (South Korean beauty products and services) transactions rose 115% year over year (YoY) in South Korea 4.
- Payment gateway providers in markets like Kazakhstan, where Alipay+ launched with Kaspi.kz (a Kazakh fintech platform), can speed up integrations for 7.5 million international visitors in H1 2025 6.
