Ant International, subsidiary of the Chinese fintech powerhouse Ant Group, is providing commercial variable recurring payments (VRPs) for its user base in partnership with Yapily.
Via an extension of its pre-existing partnership with the Open Banking platform, Ant International will tap into Yapily’s payment infrastructure to provide e-commerce VRPs to a number of merchants in different regions of the world.
Asian food delivery platform Hungry Panda was the first to integrate both the VRP ‘One Click’ payment method and the standard Antom-powered ‘Pay by Bank’ for its UK customer base.
Consumers are empowered by the two payment methods by placing orders via their mobile devices to complete payments directly from their bank accounts, ensuring a quicker and more seamless user experience with reduced transaction costs.
Stefano Vaccino, CEO and Founder of Yapily, stated: “We’re delighted to bring the benefits of open banking and commercial VRP to Europe. VRP technology is faster and more secure when making payments, giving an improved experience for both merchants and customers.
“By innovating finance in this way, we can power a more open and productive economy to the benefit of businesses and consumers.”
Kelu Liu, CEO and Founder of HungryPanda, added: “Our partnership with Ant International enables HungryPanda customers in the UK to order their favourite dishes more conveniently and securely using a preferred payment wallet.”
The deployment of Open Banking solutions marks the latest development of Ant International’s partnership with Yapily to explore and implement Open Banking technologies on mobile payment platforms.
It intends to enable consumers who bank with UK financial institutions to make payments to merchants across the world via Antom, directly from their bank accounts, with a smooth and secure payment experience.
This collaboration marks the first step of a wider roll-out of Open Banking technologies to more mobile services. Globally, Antom supports merchants in over 40 countries and provides them with a one-stop, vertical-specific digital payment solution.
Pietro Candela, Ant International’s Head of Business Development in Europe, concluded: “The UK and Europe are on the front lines of open banking. We’re pleased to continue our collaboration with Yapily to develop payment solutions which bring value and convenience to European consumers and global merchants, including Hungry Panda, and we’re excited to see continued adoption of this technology with our partner merchants as it scales across the platform.”
