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Ant Group

Alipay’s new Tap! service marks its latest effort to shape the evolution of contactless payments in mainland China. Photo: Shutterstock

Alipay drives evolution of contactless payments in China with new tap-and-pay service

Alipay expects its Tap! service, which is being rolled out in major cities across mainland China, to ‘expedite in-store mobile payments’.

Alipay expects its Tap! service to streamline the checkout process for merchants, while offering consumers a simplified experience

9 Jul 2024 - 8:10PM

Ant Group-backed Paytm gets India’s nod to invest in payments arm

9 Jul 2024 - 5:39PM

China kicks off largest AI conference in Shanghai amid tech rivalry with US

3 Jul 2024 - 7:30PM

Fintech giant Ant Group spins off database firm as Alibaba affiliates take stake

A shareholder restructuring for OceanBase, which develops the database tech behind Alipay, gives 35 companies a stake, paving the way to a possible public listing

3 Jul 2024 - 11:12PM

Fintech giant Ant Group is spinning off the subsidiary responsible for the database behind Alipay. Photo: Bloomberg

From Alibaba to BYD, Chinese sponsors jostle for attention at Euro 2024

Five of the championship’s 13 sponsors come from China, as these companies look abroad amid slow growth at home.

18 Jun 2024 - 7:00PM

Ant Group’s US$2.9 billion tech investment helps fintech giant reach ESG goals

The Chinese fintech giant has been increasing its R&D outlay by 12.7 per cent annually since 2021, according to its latest sustainability report.

13 Jun 2024 - 7:27PM

Alipay’s latest trick: testing for hair loss in the payment app

The largest mobile wallet in China, operated by Ant Group, has a new mini app that uses AI to assess images of a head and estimate whether a user is balding.

9 Jun 2024 - 9:00PM

Hair issues afflict one in six people in China, and a new AI-powered feature on Alipay is promises to help people self-assess whether they are balding. Photo: Shutterstock

Balenciaga teams with Alipay on US$650 T-shirt, prompting social media ridicule

Spanish luxury fashion brand Balenciaga has introduced a 4,700 yuan T-shirt that displays only its own name and the Alipay logo.

1 Jun 2024 - 7:11AM

Foreigners spend 700% more on Alipay in China over Labour Day holiday

Beijing has introduced measures aimed at boosting inbound tourism, including visa-free travel for a number of European and Southeast Asian countries.

6 May 2024 - 12:04PMvideocam

Ant Group adds 14 foreign payment apps in access boost for Hong Kong merchants

Overseas travellers from nine countries can make payments in Hong Kong using their mobile payment apps after Ant Group expanded its digital payment network via partnerships.

26 Apr 2024 - 3:08PM

Chinese and US firms collaborate on first global generative AI standards

The first global standards specifically covering GenAI and LLM released on Tuesday are a joint effort between Ant Group, Baidu, Tencent, OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia and others.

18 Apr 2024 - 9:00PM

AI-generated images seen on a computer. Photo: AFP

China added 1 unicorn per week despite weak global investments: report

Amid rising geopolitical tensions, most of the top 30 investors that invested in Chinese unicorns are based within the country.

10 Apr 2024 - 6:33PM

Ant International aggressively expands Alipay+ tourist payment service

Mobile payments made through 16 wallets supported by Alipay+ now account for 10 per cent of total tourist spending in Japan, unit president Douglas Feagin says.

27 Mar 2024 - 3:00PM

Hong Kong’s CBDC trial and Ant’s blockchain are helping to digitise shipping

Hong Kong’s Global Shipping Business Network has finished a prototype of its first electronic bill of lading in collaboration with Ant Group’s ZAN blockchain unit.

21 Mar 2024 - 5:11PM

Trucks passing through containers at the Hong Kong Container Terminal, situated in the Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi basin on May 17, 2019. Photo: SCMP / Roy Issa

Ant Group restructures operations into independent units to spur growth

The move is the biggest overhaul since Ant Group’s US$39.7 billion IPO was foiled by regulators in 2020, two days before shares were due to commence trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

20 Mar 2024 - 12:51AM

Workers sets up the booth for Ant Group before the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 5, 2023. Photo: AP

Alibaba brings 11 more apps to HarmonyOS as Huawei’s Android rival gains steam

Alibaba will develop native HarmonyOS applications for platforms including its Cainiao courier service and food delivery app Ele.me.

15 Mar 2024 - 8:00PMvideocam

Alipay, WeChat Pay ease the way for foreign travellers to make payments in China

Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay are enhancing operations to make it easier for foreign travellers to pay for goods and services on the mainland, the world’s largest cashless society.

9 Mar 2024 - 12:58AMvideocam

Tech hub Shenzhen to expedite adoption of apps built on Huawei’s HarmonyOS

Shenzhen’s municipal government plans to boost the number of its native apps built on HarmonyOS and push for their adoption across major sectors, including education, healthcare, banking, transport and welfare.

4 Mar 2024 - 7:00PM

Huawei Technologies’ HarmonyOS is used on smartphones, tablets, smart televisions, personal computers, smartwatches and various home appliances. Photo: Agence France-Presse

My Take | Why a walled internet may prove damaging for China’s future

Foreigners having trouble making mobile payments in China is just a trivial issue when it comes to the cost of its walled internet.

27 Feb 2024 - 7:00AM

Overseas Chinese tourists back as Alipay transactions up 7 per cent from 2019

The Year of the Dragon may have signalled the return of the overseas Chinese tourist, with preliminary data from Alipay showing a 7 per cent increase in transactions this year compared with 2019.

16 Feb 2024 - 6:00PM

Ant Group inks partnership with Shanghai to help the city’s AI ambitions

Ant Group and the Shanghai municipal government have struck a partnership that would see the two parties deepen their collaboration in fields such as blockchain and artificial intelligence.

1 Feb 2024 - 8:40PM

The Huangpu River in Shanghai, on January 11, 2024. The city wants to foster an environment conducive to tech businesses. Photo: EPA-EFE

Tencent CEO Pony Ma asks fintech unit to cede share in payments market

The founder also warns staff to focus on ‘safety, not speed’ when venturing into new fintech services like loans and insurance, according to Chinese media reports and people familiar with the situation.

30 Jan 2024 - 9:26PM

Pony Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent Holdings. Photo: AFP

Ant Group expands Alipay+ to serve visa-free, Lunar New Year travellers

The move comes as China has waived visa requirements for travellers from several countries, while Chinese tourists are expected to head abroad during Lunar New Year.

30 Jan 2024 - 3:31PM

Fintech giant Ant Group sets up AI unit led by former Google researcher

The new unit, called NextEvo, will drive and coordinate Ant’s core AI efforts, according to people familiar with the matter.

25 Jan 2024 - 6:30PMvideocam

Ant Group-backed credit scorer Qiantang closer to licence in China

The credit-scoring company appears to be headed for official approval to begin operations after a wait of more than two years, with the People’s Bank of China guiding its application, official says.

25 Jan 2024 - 6:00AM

China convenes Huawei, Tencent, Baidu to draft metaverse standards

The newly formed working group is tasked with building, maintaining and promoting metaverse industry standards, China’s technology regulator says.

20 Jan 2024 - 4:11PMvideocam

China has formed a working group to establish metaverse standards. Photo: Bloomberg

LianLian seeks to revive Hong Kong IPO in second stab at fundraising

Hong Kong, the world’s top IPO destination in seven of the past 15 years, fell to 8th place last year, a miserable year at a two-decade trough, as 68 companies raised US$5.9 billion, according to Refinitiv’s data.

12 Jan 2024 - 7:24PM

Hong Kong taxis with Octopus readers to accept payment through 2 QR code wallets

Octopus says it will open up its payment networks for the first time in 26 years to UnionPay, Alipay and AlipayHK.

11 Jan 2024 - 10:54PM

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Ant Group

Ant Group is a digital financial services company that owns and operates Alipay, one of two dominant mobile payment platforms in China (the other is WeChat Pay). The company began life as part of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post. It was spun off in 2011. Ant Group originates loans to consumers and companies, and is the largest provider of microfinance services in China. It also provides investment and insurance products on its platform, as well as technical solutions to payment companies. In late 2020, the company aborted initial public offerings in Shanghai and Hong Kong under heavy regulatory scrutiny. This has since been regarded as the start of the Chinese government’s crackdown on Big Tech that lasted more than 2.5 years.