<article><a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/ant-financial" target="_blank">Ant Financial Services Group</a> , the digital financial services provider behind <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/alipay" target="_blank">Alipay</a>, has expanded its global blueprint through a strategic partnership and investment into Thailand-based Ascend Money.</article>

<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/ant-financial" target="_blank">Ant Financial Services Group</a> , the digital financial services provider behind <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/alipay" target="_blank">Alipay</a>, has expanded its global blueprint through a strategic partnership and investment into Thailand-based Ascend Money.
The investment will see the mobile lifestyle and digital financial services platform accelerate its growth in Thailand and the region. Financial terms of the deal are undisclosed. 

Ascend Money is Ant Financial’s first partner in Southeast Asia and second in Asia after <a href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/paytm" target="_blank">Paytm</a> in India.
Together with Ant Financial, <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/ascend-money/" target="_blank">Ascend Money</a> will grow its online and offline payment and financial services ecosystem and strengthen its payment services for users and merchants. 
With the partnership with Ant Financial &#8211; which runs Alipay and claims a user base in excess of 450 million users &#8211; Ascend Money will enjoy strategic and technical support for the growth of its business. 

Ascend Money operates under the TrueMoney brand for payments and Ascend Nano for lending. Headquartered in Bangkok, Ascend Money operates in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia; targeting two under&#8211;served groups &#8211; digital consumers with its mobile wallet application and the under&#8211;banked with its massive agent network.
It offers domestic and international remittance, bill payment, top up services, online and offline payments and payroll services It intends to foray into lending, insurance and investment.
“It’s our life purpose to help the under&#8211;served, which include digital consumers and the under-banked,” Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa, CEO of Ascend Group, said. “Our goal is to provide innovative financial services to over 100 million customers and SMEs in Thailand and Southeast Asia by 2020. Our partnership with Ant will help accelerate innovative financial services and platforms, enabling a strong financial services ecosystem.” 
Also Read: <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/dbs-48606/">Fintech threat! Alipay hit $100b in less than a year with zero branches, DBS took 50 years to get there: Piyush Gupta</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/is-alipay-planning-vietnam-foray-after-acquiring-thai-ascend-money-51473/">Is Alipay entering Vietnam riding on Ascend Money deal?</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/chinas-alipay-pushes-into-europe-with-ingenico-payments-deal-50962/">China’s Alipay pushes into Europe with Ingenico payments deal</a>
Leveraging Ant Financial’s capabilities in payment, big data, risk control and cloud computing capabilities, the partnership with Ascend Money will build on synergies in digital financial services in order to offer Thai consumers comprehensive and equal access to financial services. 
Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial, says, “As we aim to provide services to over two billion users in ten years, we are building an open ecosystem with our global partners. The payment market in SE Asia has vast untapped potential.&#8221;
With its ambition to develop a global footprint, such strategic partnerships are key to Ant Financial to access new markets and target underserved customers. In early 2015, Ant Financial partnered with Alibaba-backed <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/paytm" target="_blank">Paytm</a>, the world’s fourth largest e&#8211;wallet, to promote secured digital payment to local users in India.
Currently, Ant Financial works with a global network of payment partners including Concardis, Ingenico, Wirecard and Zapper in Europe, First Data and Verifone in North America, Paysbuy and Counter Services in Southeast Asia, Recruit in Japan and KICC and ICB in South Korea.
Also Read:
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/china-9-56364/">China: Ant Financial forms partnerships with Verifone, First Data; JD Finance leads $30m strategic investment in Microseer</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/jack-mas-ant-financial-names-new-ceo-to-oversee-ipo-in-2017-55030/">Jack Ma’s Ant Financial names Eric Jing as new CEO to oversee IPO in 2017</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/jack-mas-finance-business-may-be-worth-more-than-goldman-sachs-53820/">Jack Ma’s finance business Ant Financial may be worth more than Goldman Sachs</a>

Ant Financial has invested into Thailand's Ascend Money and forged a strategic partnership with it that will enable Alipay's scaling in the region.

Ant Financial makes strategic investment in Thailand's Ascend Money

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief

Ant Financial makes strategic investment in Thailand's Ascend Money

Start your deal-making journey now!

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief