WorldFirst, an Ant International digital payment company, has celebrated surpassing $300bn in total accumulative transaction volume.
With a significant focus on providing digital payments and financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), WorldFirst has adopted various solutions to help drive international trade for smaller businesses.
China and Southeast Asia were two key jurisdictions that saw WorldFirst transaction volumes rise the most, amongst other key regions for the company such as Europe, the UK and Australia.
Growth in Southeast Asia, Europe and other regions was primarily fueled by rising adoption of WorldFirst’s global sourcing payment solutions. These solutions enabled business buyers to seamlessly pay for a diverse range of supplies – electronics, furniture, kitchenware etc. – sourced from China and other international markets.
Essential to the volume in transactions growing was WorldFirst’s World Account, an all-in-one cross-border payment platform. This solution enabled Chinese e-commerce businesses to scale its payment operations and sell to more than 130 global e-commerce sites compatible with WorldFirst.
Clara Shi, Vice President of Ant International and CEO of WorldFirst, said the accelerated transaction volume growth suggests two major trends in global SME trade.
“Firstly, an increasing number of SMEs are expanding their reach globally, particularly by engaging in cross-border trade through e-commerce, recognising the significant growth potential in the digital trade landscape.
“Consequently, these SMEs are opting to utilise comprehensive digital payment platforms like WorldFirst to support their increasingly sophisticated cross-border operations.”
An increasing number of SMEs are diversifying their business operations across various e-commerce marketplaces and establishing local presence in international markets, according to WorldFirst.
This shift has prompted small businesses to seek payment providers that offer not only payment and financial services but also support throughout the upstream and downstream supply chain, which was pulled from WorldFirst research.
“We believe SMEs will remain a cornerstone of global trade, with digital payments playing a crucial role in their growth,” Shi added.
“From Southeast Asia and the Middle East to Europe, WorldFirst is establishing localised operations and launching additional services to better support our SME clients in their international expansion aspirations.
“We are confident in sustaining growth, driven by the multi-trillion-dollar global SME trade market.”