Ant Financial ups western muscle acquiring WorldFirst for $700m

Ant Financial, the Fintech/payments subsidiary of Chinese digital retail giant Alibaba, has acquired London-based payments company WorldFirst for a reported $770 million (£550 million).  

The transaction states Ant Financial’s growing intent on expanding services within western markets, following its blocked attempt to purchase payment transfer firm Moneygram in 2017.

Ant Financial operates Alipay service, China’s most dominant mobile payment service that boasts over 550 million registered users.

Payment and Fintech analysts will be monitoring Alibaba European movements closely this 2019, as  the February the company secured its first EU banking registry and e-payments licence with the government of Luxembourg

Mirroring its previous acquisition target Moneygram, WorldFirst is a specialist in fixed FX transaction and payment processing, attributes which Ant Financial may seek to combine with Alipay dynamics.   

In an interview with the Financial Times last year, Ant Financial’s Head of International Operations Doug Feagin spoke of the companies “international mission”.

He said: “120m Chinese travellers went abroad in 2015 and that’s growing at 18 per cent a year. The vast majority of whom use Alipay.

“We want to expand the user base into different markets and are evaluating how to do that. In some markets we think we can do that organically by offering the Alipay app, but in others we are doing it through partnerships.”

WorldFirst’s chief executive Jonathan Quin told clients in a letter that the firm will continue to operate as a UK-headquartered and regulated business with global operations.

The letter, sourced from Financial Times, continued: “We believe that becoming a part of the Ant Financial group and of the wider Alibaba ecosystem will create opportunities for us to grow our existing relationship with you.

“In time we will be able to offer even better products and services to you as we maximise the benefits that will come from being a part of a larger group.”