Ant International and Alipay Aim to Safeguard Digital Wallets

A trio of Asia-based payment providers have teamed to help bolster cross-border digital wallet transactions.

The Digital Wallet Guardian Partnership, announced Thursday (Sept. 11), comes as digital wallets grow in popularity with consumers in Asia and around the globe.

With this partnership, tech giant Ant International will join forces with e-wallet companies AlipayHK from Hong Kong and Malaysia’s TNG to develop safety solutions for digital wallets using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and privacy-preserving computing.

The companies will also work together on sharing knowledge and launch awareness campaigns to educate consumers and merchants on how to avoid various risks.

“While AI enhances our ability to manage risks, it also introduces new challenges that we must proactively address,” said Tianyi Zhang, general manager of risk management and cybersecurity at Ant International.

“Through this partnership, Ant International is dedicated to working closely with our partners to co-develop and share advanced risk-management capabilities. Together, we aim to stay ahead of emerging threats, making digital wallets more secure, so as to drive growth in global travel and commerce,” added Zhang.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has charted the popularity of digital wallets in Southeast Asia. For example, the report “Global Money Movement: Singapore Edition” found that 56% of people and 84% of merchants in that city-state were either very or extremely familiar with using digital wallets to conduct cross-border transactions.

As noted here earlier this year, this gap in familiarity suggests that although businesses are often equipped with the resources to embrace new payment technologies, consumers may lag because of limited knowledge.

“The drivers behind digital wallet adoption are complex and shaped by a myriad of economic, demographic and technological factors,” PYMNTS wrote. “Yet by understanding and embracing critical areas for growth, digital wallet providers could play a pivotal role in bridging the knowledge and usage gap.”

Broader research by PYMNTS Intelligence — expanded to include Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and the U.K. as well as Singapore — finds that 42% of consumers already prefer to make and receive cross-border payments using digital wallets, more than any other payment method, including money transfer services and bank account transfers.

“Moreover, nearly half of the consumers who are not using digital wallets for international transactions anticipate adopting them for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments in the near future, pointing towards further expansion of digital wallet usage in this domain,” PYMNTS wrote.