Ant Group

China proposed measures to curb market concentration in its online payment market, potentially dealing another blow to financial technology giant Ant Group and its biggest rival Tencent Holdings.

Trade war bans on payment apps are pressuring large companies and providing opportunities for regional specialists, says Nets' Sirpa Nordlund.

Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. is planning to restructure its consumer credit operations so the company can continue lending nationwide under new regulations that would otherwise threaten to dramatically restrict its most lucrative business, people familiar with the matter said.

Billionaire Ant Group Co. co-founder Jack Ma skipped a recent taping of an African TV program he created, spurring speculation online about his whereabouts and the outcome of an investigation into his internet empire.

When the Chinese banking authorities finish reshaping Jack Ma’s empire, the only thing he may have left is Alipay — which would still be the world’s most popular mobile and online payments app.

Jack Ma’s besieged Ant Group Co. is planning to fold its financial operations into a holding company that could be regulated more like a bank, according to people familiar with the situation, potentially crippling the growth of its most-profitable units.

Ant Group Co. and a venture led by Grab Holdings Ltd. won licenses to run digital banks in Singapore, paving the way for the technology giants to expand their financial services in the Southeast Asian hub.

The Shanghai stock exchange will suspend Ant Group Co.’s $35 billion IPO after Jack Ma was called in for “supervisory interviews" with Chinese regulatory agencies.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc., UBS Asset Management and FMR LLC, the parent of Fidelity Investments, are among the money managers angling for a piece of Ant Group Co.’s blockbuster initial public offering, a person familiar with the matter said.

Alipay’s assembling a portfolio to stitch together a multinational financial services ecosystem. The mobile payments titan’s IPO will provide an enormous war chest to develop new services, turbocharge international expansion, and fund acquisitions, says Intrepid Ventures' Eric Grover.

The Trump administration has barred the use of TikTok and WeChat inside the U.S., including a direct ban on WeChat Pay, setting up potential retaliation against U.S. companies that could interrupt international payment flows.

Ant Group was dealt another blow by more regulations to contain risks in the country’s burgeoning online lending industry as Jack Ma’s financial technology giant prepares for its initial public offering.

Billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group generated about 9.2 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) of profit in the March quarter, offering investors a glimpse of its earnings power in the run up to its mega initial public offering.

Jack Ma’s Ant Group is planning to create a new consumer finance company to bolster its market share in the country’s fast growing online lending industry.

Ant Group is planning one of Asia’s largest IPOs while the world’s afflicted by a global pandemic, political turmoil and historic economic stress. Despite the chaos — or perhaps because of it — the timing could be right for Ant to challenge the global order in e-commerce and digital payments.

Three years ago, Alipay began its brick-and-mortar conquest of North America, promoting acceptance of the Alibaba affiliate Ant Group's mobile wallet at shops targeting Chinese tourists, eventually reaching thousands of U.S. and Canadian stores.

China has a huge market and entrenched payment firms, but a record of digital adoption that makes it a prime market, says PPRO's Steve Villegas.

Digital technology and the coronavirus recovery will dramatically alter payments in the year ahead, but the scale and benefits of networks will survive, Eric Grover of Intrepid Ventures contends.

Trends in China such as mobile payments, omnichannel shopping and social commerce show us what a post-coronavirus world could look like for brands and retailers in the U.S., says Azoya International's Franklin Chu.

TransferWise has partnered with Alipay to expand money remittance options for its users to instantly send Chinese yuan to friends and family in China.