Ant Group partners with 2C2P in cross-border payment network

The financial technology firm Ant Group said on Monday it has formed a strategic partnership with Singapore-based payments platform 2C2P, as the latest addition to a global cross-border payment network that it is eyeing to construct.

The partnership will see Ant, the operator of Alipay, become 2C2P's majority shareholder, though the acquisition amount wasn't disclosed.

With a strong presence across key Asian markets like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, 2C2P offers payment acceptance, issuing, payout, as well as other value-added solutions to merchants.

With the deal, the Singaporean firm's network of merchants will be plugged into Alipay+, Ant's cross-border payments platform that has some 250 payment options worldwide.

Ant said Alipay+ has served more than 1 billion users in Asia, through Kakao Pay and NaverPay in South Korea, AlipayHK, Touch 'n Go eWallet in Malaysia, GCash in the Philippines and Dana in Indonesia.

It also has 1 million offline merchants across Europe and Asia. Online, it has connected payments providers to customers on platforms like Google and TikTok.