BNP Paribas and Ant International sign a new series of partnerships

BNP Paribas bank and Ant International financial group have announced a series of collaborations in Europe with the aim of offering merchants innovative cross-border payment and cash management solutions. The two protagonists have worked together on a number of occasions, and often share a common goal: to advance financial services, particularly for merchants.

FACTS

• BNP Paribas and Ant International are strengthening their partnership to improve cross-border payments and promote tokenized deposits.
• The agreement includes collaboration between the French bank and several group entities such as Alipay+, Worldfirst and Whale.
• The first partnership aims to enable European merchants using BNP Paribas' acquiring platform to accept payments from over 25 international mobile partners, via Alipay+.
• The second partnership aims to strengthen the presence of Worldfirst, a digital payments and financial services platform for large corporations, in the SEPA system. This will enable the provider's customers to benefit from a superior quality of payment service to Europe.
• Last but not least, the French bank is committed to researching innovations in tokenized deposits to improve global cash management. To this end, BNP Paribas will be working with Whale, Ant International's innovative cash management platform.

CHALLENGES

• Facilitating trade with Europe: Ant International sees Europe as a region full of opportunities. The group therefore wishes to contribute to the improvement of international trade solutions. European trade is constantly evolving, and the number of visitors is increasing every year. Ant International is therefore capitalizing on BNP Paribas' strong presence in the European market and its own experience in digital payments to offer innovative, tailored services.
• A partnership in favor of innovation: BNP Paribas and Ant International rely on new technologies to improve their services for businesses. In cash management, for example, Whale combines elements such as blockchain, advanced encryption and AI to increase the transparency and efficiency of funds movements between bank accounts. Thanks to the partnership, Whale will benefit from BNP Paribas infrastructures to accelerate its development.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• This is not the first time that BNP Paribas and Ant International have worked together. Back in 2016, for example, the French bank contributed to the development of Alipay+ in Europe.
• These partnerships are generally focused on innovation, as is the case with subsidiary Whale. When Ant Group announced the launch of Trusple in 2020, BNP Paribas announced its participation in the development of the solution for merchants and SMEs.