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Expanding infrastructure for the age of AI commerce: Ant International connects over 150 million merchants with more than 2 billion consumers

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New strategy highlights synergy among Global Payment, Global Account and Inclusive and Embedded Finance services built on progress in AI and interoperability.As a foundation to the business, Ant International’s global payment services support over 300 payment methods, including more than 10 national QR systems and 50 digital wallets and bank apps, and exceed 20 million daily transactions on average.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ant International now connects over 150 million global merchants with more than 2 billion user accounts globally, the company disclosed at its flagship MoMents 2026 fintech executive forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider. The company now supports 300+ payment methods in over 220 markets, including all card schemes, 50 mobile payment partners and more than 10 national QR systems, including Singapore’s SGQR, Malaysia’s DuitNow, South Korea’s ZeroPay, Thailand’s PromptPay, Indonesia’s QRIS, Sri Lanka’s LankaPay, and more. It recently onboarded more leading global e-wallets and bank apps such as iFAST Global Bank from the UK, KBank and SCB from Thailand, barq from Saudi Arabia and ShopeePay from Southeast Asia.

With an average of over 20 million transactions daily, Ant International is building broader market reach through new licenses and partnerships in Asia, Latin America and EMEA. In Vietnam, it partners with NAPAS and Vietcombank to roll out cross-border QR payment service, and is also working with the Ho Chi Minh City government on the development of an international financial centre. In Latin America, it formed a strategic partnership with Mexican fintech company R2 in late 2025, supporting the expansion of SME lending across the region. In the Middle East, Ant International collaborates with the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and national payment network mada, with plans to introduce Alipay+ cross-border QR payments in 2026. Its recent initiatives also include plans to roll out Islamic finance programs in Southeast Asia and other emerging markets.

While serving businesses in their global expansion, Ant International also ranks in first place in terms of the number of global accounts it has been managing for businesses, particularly SMEs, engaged in cross-border commerce.

“New models of financial interoperability and AI commerce give us powerful tools to help global giants as well as mom-and-pop shops to increase resilience and expand revenue streams,” said Peng Yang, CEO, Ant International. “A broader and deeper network means we can work with more partners on more levels to deliver more innovative, trusted, and high ROI fintech solutions in the world’s fastest growing markets.”

Layered solutions for enterprises, SMEs and emerging markets to achieve inclusive growth

Yang underlined a strategy to combine the forces of its four main businesses – Alipay+, Antom, Bettr and WorldFirst – to offer more connected growth solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Global payment: Making payments a growth engine for businesses of all sizes to thrive in the global digital economy.Global account: Enabling AI-powered borderless global accounts for businesses of all sizes, and serving as the ticket to digital trade and commerce. This makes ‘born global’ a reality for all businesses from day one.Strategic value boosters: Leveraging innovation and technology to deliver embedded financing, credit and treasury solutions that power inclusive growth.Innovation and technology leadership: Grounded in extensive expertise in supporting global payments and businesses of all sizes, Ant International’s leading AI and blockchain solutions are co-developed with customers, partners and regulators to deliver real impact while ensuring security and compliance.

Go-to-market FinAI solutions for real-world problem solving

Working with top LLMs, card schemes and other fintechs, Ant International builds out FinAI capacities and solutions for merchants and financial institutions to tackle real-world growth and security challenges. Key examples include:

Agentic Mobile Protocol (AMP) 

At MoMents 2026, Ant International has introduced the open-sourced AMP – the world’s first agentic payment framework designed for mobile interfaces – to help drive AI commerce. The protocol enables secure, AIOps-native agentic payment connection to mobile services including digital wallets, banking apps, super apps, and mobile portals from phones to wearable devices.

AI-as-a-Service Platform 

Ant International’s AI-as-a-Service platform GenAI Cockpit equips fintech partners with tools to build a wide range of agentic solutions, from customer-service assistants to sales copilots. Malaysia’s leading e-wallet TNG eWallet, and easypaisa, Pakistan’s first digital bank, are using the platform to deliver better customer experiences with AI.

AI SHIELD

Ant International’s 3-in-1 risk management transformer maintains trust in the ecosystem by providing a robust security layer underpinning all transactions processed by the company. The model is supported by over 7 billion parameters, and combines graph, sequential and tabular data to identify high-risk transactions with over 95% precision, while improving payment success rates by up to 13.5%.

Falcon TST AI FX model

The industry-first MoE-based AI FX model makes long-term forecasts with prediction accuracy of up to 93%, leveraging over 8.5 billion parameters. Deployed internally at Ant International to manage cashflow and FX exposure on an hourly, daily and weekly basis, Falcon TST has helped to cut the company’s FX costs by up to 60%. The model was open-sourced in 2025 to expand access to its capabilities and invite collaboration to advance time-series learning.

EPOS360

A pioneering AI-powered SME app, EPOS360 integrates practical AI tools with POS system, payments, banking, financing and growth operations for small businesses. The suite of AI-powered tools and payment capabilities was launched in Singapore, and is also available to merchants in Malaysia as a mini-programme via TNG eWallet.

Antom Copilot

Antom Copilot provides automation and assistance for merchants based on learnings from real-world cases, improving efficiency of services such as chargeback dispute handling by up to 46%. Within a year of its launch, 72% of Antom-onboarded merchants completed self-service payment integration with the copilot.

At the MoMents 2026 fintech executive forum held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, executives from global payment networks, banks, fintechs, tech companies, and governors came together to discuss the future of financial services in the era of AI commerce. Conversations focused on new forms of payment transformation, multi-layer global interoperability, super app evolution with AI-native tech, innovation of Islamic financing and initiatives around trust and security.

Ant International launched its Digital Business Center in Kuala Lumpur in 2024. 

About Ant International

Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider. Through collaboration across the private and public sectors, our unified techfin platform supports financial institutions and merchants of all sizes to achieve inclusive growth through a comprehensive range of cutting-edge digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit https://www.ant-intl.com/

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SOURCE Ant International

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The Second Global Business Summit on BRI Infrastructure to Accelerate the SDGs Held in Singapore

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SINGAPORE, Sept. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Second Global Business Summit on Belt and Road Infrastructure Investment to Accelerate the SDGs was held in Singapore under the theme “Connect for Better World.” The Summit was organized by the UN Global Compact’s Sustainable Infrastructure for the Belt and Road Initiative to Accelerate the SDGs Action Platform, co-organized by UN Global Compact Network Singapore.

The Summit convened over 300 senior leaders and representatives of international organizations, global and regional enterprises, civil society organizations, academics and think tanks, launching a dozen of Sustainability-driven joint actions and innovative partnerships led by private sector with a view to unlock opportunities of BRI infrastructure cooperation to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Summit adopted a declaration setting out business priorities for sustainable infrastructure, responsible AI, just energy transition, global supply chains resilience, sustainable finance, women and youth empowerment in digital era and international cooperation in traditional medicine. The Summit launched expert groups on sustainable energy and sustainable digital infrastructure, alongside 12 SDG-driven outcomes covering green mining, electricity carbon-footprint standards, biodiversity conservation, ocean protection, sustainable transport, women’s microenterprise growth and inclusive global development, led by private sector pioneers.

UN Assistant Secretary general, CEO of UN Global Compact Ms. Sanda Ojiambo noted resilient infrastructure is key to long-term sustainable development. She emphasized: “the initiatives being launched today – from new expert groups on sustainable energy and digital infrastructure to new guidance on biodiversity, green minerals, and responsible AI – demonstrate that meaningful progress depends on collaboration across borders, sectors, and value chains.” Through the BRI for SDGs Action Platform, she added, “companies are joining forces to develop practical guidance, share expertise, and collaborate on solutions that can be applied across industries and regions.”

Mr. Selwin Hart, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Climate Action and Just Transition said: “Through the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese businesses and financial institutions can help connect China’s extraordinary clean energy capabilities with the enormous growth opportunities across the developing world. The next chapter of the energy transition must show what cooperation at scale can achieve. Because in a divided world, our greatest opportunities will come not from retreating behind borders, but from building bridges — connecting markets, mobilizing investment, sharing solutions and creating prosperity together.

2026 kicks start the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety Mr. Jean Todt noted the Belt and Road Initiative is one of the world’s largest infrastructure and connectivity efforts. Its scale must be matched by an equally strong commitment to safety. Mr. Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of United Nations concluded the Summit by appealing “No single country can tackle today’s complex connectivity challenges in isolation. Cooperation, between governments, international organizations, financial institutions and the private sector, is crucial for keeping us connected. The Belt and Road Initiative stands as a prime example of cross-border connectivity in action.

Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, Mr. Stephen Jackson, UN resident coordinator in China and Mr. Nikolas Myint, UN resident coordinator in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam highlighted importance role of the Summit to foster cross-border collaboration while noted China, Singapore and ASEAN region’s contribution to regional stability and global progress towards the SDGs.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-second-global-business-summit-on-bri-infrastructure-to-accelerate-the-sdgs-held-in-singapore-302870873.html

SOURCE UN Global Compact

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TCL Showcases AI Inspired Life at IFA 2026 Through Its Screen Universe

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From next-generation displays and AI-powered smart home experiences to sports-inspired moments, TCL presents an immersive vision of everyday life in the AI era.

BERLIN, Sept. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TCL today unveiled its vision for an AI Inspired Life at IFA 2026 through the “Inspiration Habitat,” an immersive smart-living environment that brings together next-generation displays, AI-powered smart home experiences and sustainable energy solutions. Built around TCL’s Screen Universe, the exhibition shows how screens across forms and applications are evolving into intelligent interfaces connecting people with content, services and the physical world.

With the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 taking place in Berlin during IFA, TCL is extending this vision from the exhibition floor to sports-inspired fan experiences, showing how display innovation and AI-enabled living can bring the energy of the court closer to everyday life.

“At IFA 2026, TCL is showing how AI and display innovation can create more intuitive, immersive and human-centered experiences,” said Daniel Sun, CTO of TCL Industries. “Through our Screen Universe, TCL is turning advanced display technologies and AI capabilities into tangible home experiences.”

TCL’s Screen Universe Turns Display Innovation into Everyday Intelligence

At IFA 2026, TCL brought together voices from technology, entertainment and creative industries to examine how larger screens, improved picture quality and intelligent interaction are shaping immersive home entertainment.

A key highlight is the TCL X11L SQD-Mini LED TV, which delivers up to 100% BT.2020 All-Scene Wide Color Gamut, precise dimming and up to HDR 10,000 nits peak brightness through next-generation display technologies. TCL also introduced RayNeo GT Max AR Glasses, the world’s first Dolby Vision-certified AR glasses, extending premium viewing beyond the living room into personal, mobile scenarios.

AI Inspired Life: Intelligence That Lives in Everyday Moments

Through the latest NXTHOME™ ecosystem, TCL presents a future-oriented approach to connected living, where smart displays, connected home appliances, AI experiences, interior design and sustainable living create a home environment that adapts to people’s needs.

The AiMe Family Companion Robot brings intelligent technology to life through natural multimodal interaction and lifelike motion control. TCL’s AI-powered appliances, including the FreshIN 3.0 Ultra Air Conditioner, TCL Free Built-in Refrigerator and TCL AI SuperDrum Laundry Tower P9 Ultra, translate AI capabilities into practical experiences across air care, food storage and laundry care.

Inspire Your Passion: Bringing the Thrill of Sport Beyond the Court

From the Olympic Games to the world’s top arenas, TCL continues to use sport as a powerful way to connect people through shared moments of passion, performance and possibility that Inspire Greatness in everyday life.

With IFA 2026 and the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 both taking place in Berlin, TCL is bringing the energy of women’s basketball into its Inspiration Habitat through basketball-inspired experiences and fan interactions. TCL is embedding the spirit of #TCLforHer across its activations and global communications, celebrating the confidence, resilience and ambition represented by women’s basketball.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/tcl-showcases-ai-inspired-life-at-ifa-2026-through-its-screen-universe-302870862.html

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VITG Unveils Modern Managed Services and Managed Detection & Response as Part of a Broader AI and Cybersecurity Transformation across ANZ

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SYDNEY, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As organisations across Australia and New Zealand navigate the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence, increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, and growing governance requirements, Virtual IT Group   (VITG) has announced the launch of Modern Managed Services  (MMS)  and Managed Detection & Response  (MDR) , that are next-generation managed services and managed security offerings designed to help organisations remain secure, resilient and ready for what’s next.

Modern Managed Services delivers a Modern Defensible Architecture framework for managed IT operations, ensuring security controls, governance frameworks and operational best practices are embedded and continuously maintained. Complementing this, Managed Detection & Response provides organisations with 24×7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) capability, actively monitoring, investigating and responding to threats using advanced security analytics and response technologies.

Jeremy Nees , Chief Product Officer, VITG , said:

“Too often, organisations purchase managed services only to discover they do not have the standard level of security they need. As businesses adopt AI, the old-world IT solutions that Managed Service Providers (MSP) are selling are simply not going to cut it. We’ve baked common security requirements into the MMS service from day one, applying the key principles of Modern Defensible Architecture: Secure-by-Design, Defense in Depth, and Zero Trust.

MDR and ZDR   can be layered on top or are available independently if you have your own IT service or team. The push to adopt AI is leaving security gaps across the ANZ mid-market. Our goal is to provide customers with technology that is secure, resilient, and ready for what’s next.”

The launch marks VITG’s second major solution release of the year, following the introduction of its Zero Trust Consulting Practice  and Zero Trust Detection & Response  (ZDR)  offering earlier in 2026. It is also the Group’s first launch since acquiring cybersecurity outfit Security Centric , building on the addition of Auckland based The Instillery  in 2025 and further strengthening VITG’s capabilities across managed services, cloud, cybersecurity, data and AI. VITG is also advancing a dedicated Data & AI Practice and Momentum, a continuous improvement framework currently being piloted with customers ahead of a market launch later this year.

Since joining VITG  at the start of the year, Maurice McCarthy , Chief Executive Officer , is committed to moving at pace to meet the demand that has been created off the back of the market’s rapid adoption of AI.   

McCarthy said, “The traditional managed services model was built for a different era. Today’s organisations need partners that can help them unlock the value of data and AI while strengthening cybersecurity, managing risk, and continuously evolving their technology environment.

Through the acquisition of Security Centric and The Instillery we have brought together market-leading expertise across managed services, data and AI, and cybersecurity. This launch is the first of several innovations we will introduce as we help organisations accelerate transformation and realise greater value from AI.”

Sash Vasilevski , Chief Security Officer, VITG , said:

“The technology businesses are using to unlock the value of AI, integrate systems, and build strong data foundations, is rapidly introducing new risks and attack surfaces.

As business leaders accelerate their adoption of AI, the gap between the threats they face and the security capabilities they have in place is growing faster than many businesses realise.”

Modern Managed Services and Managed Detection & Response are available immediately.

For more information, visit:

Modern Managed Services (MMS)

Managed Detection & Response (MDR)

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SOURCE Virtual IT Group

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