DBS and Ant International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their strategic partnership, focusing on innovative payment solutions and digitalisation to support regional businesses and consumers. Announced at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025, the collaboration aims to enhance cross-border payment connectivity and foster fintech innovation.
Under the new agreement, DBS PayLah! will integrate with the Alipay+ payments ecosystem, allowing over three million users to make QR code payments at more than 150 million merchants across 100 markets. This move is expected to significantly boost payment accessibility for consumers and businesses alike.
The partnership also explores a bank-to-wallet solution for near-instant remittances, connecting DBS customers with 1.8 billion user accounts on the Alipay+ platform. Utilising ISO 20022 messaging standards and the SWIFT network, this initiative aims to streamline and simplify international money transfers.
Additionally, DBS will collaborate with Antom, Ant International’s merchant payment and digitisation services provider, to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in their digital transformation. This includes exploring the Model Context Protocol-based Antom Agentic Payment solution, which leverages AI technologies for enhanced payment capabilities.
Peng Yang, CEO of Ant International, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “We are proud to deepen our partnership with DBS, whom we have already been working closely with since 2013, on various initiatives including SME payment solutions and most recently, tokenised deposits.”
“Together, we’ll make a difference to the region by driving inclusive and sustainable growth,” he added.
Tan Su Shan, CEO of DBS, added, “By synergising our strengths, we can unlock new avenues for growth.”
This collaboration marks a significant step in advancing digital payment solutions and fostering innovation within the regional fintech ecosystem.
