Ant International Unveils Global SME Digital Lending Service Through Embedded Finance to Accelerate Financial Inclusion
June 18 2024 - 3:35AM
Business Wire
Ant International, a leading global digital payment and
financial technology provider, today unveiled bettr, a global
digital lending service to provide micro lending to micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in strategic markets through
embedded finance partnerships.
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the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240618515438/en/
Wallapa Traisorat, CEO and President of
Asset World Corporation (second from left) and Yang Peng, CEO of
Ant International (second from right) at the MOU signing ceremony
between bettr and AWC (Photo: Business Wire)
Yang Peng, CEO of Ant International said, “I’m thrilled to
introduce bettr to SMEs and industry partners across emerging
markets. This is a major milestone in our journey to empower SMEs
worldwide with innovative fintech solutions through open
collaboration with regional partners. bettr’s mission is to make
financing simpler and more accessible for micro and small
businesses as they become the new engine for regional and
cross-border trade and commerce. We look forward to expanding
partnerships with leaders across industries to achieve our shared
vision for an inclusive, sustainable future commerce
ecosystem.”
The IFC estimates that 65 million firms, or 40%1 of formal MSMEs
in developing countries, have an unmet financing need of $5.2
trillion every year. Recognising the unmet need for inclusive and
accessible financial services globally, bettr aims to enable an
open, collaborative ecosystem to enhance the accessibility and ease
of credit support by leveraging AI, privacy-preserving computing
and other digital innovations to close the financing divide and
unlock growth opportunities for MSMEs.
Marking the launch, bettr announced its inaugural embedded
finance collaboration with Asset World Corporation (“AWC”),
Thailand’s leading integrated lifestyle real estate group and a
member of the TCC Group. Wallapa Traisorat, CEO and President of
AWC said, “AWC is very excited to partner with Ant International
for the launch of bettr. This collaboration will allow both parties
to fully leverage their strengths where bettr will intuitively
avail digital lending to AWC’s ecosystem of micro and small
businesses via our various platforms and engagement channels. The
first phase of this partnership will launch AWC’s flagship project
“Phenix,” the world’s food wholesale hub, featuring the largest
food lounge in Pratunam, set to open on 26th June 2024. The
partnership is expected to benefit sellers, buyers, and AWC
suppliers, conducting business on Phenix both online and offline,
and will eventually benefit merchants across AWC’s Hospitality,
Retail and Wholesale and Commercial businesses.”
“With a booming SME economy, Thailand has been a strategic
market for Ant International from day one, where we learned from
deep-rooted partnerships and serve thousands of local businesses
through digital payments, connecting them with global travelers and
export markets. With bettr, we are now able to expand the financial
services offerings by providing accessible financing, empowering
small businesses to grow and thrive," added Yang Peng.
About bettr
bettr is the digital lending business under Ant International,
focused on providing inclusive financial services to micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in strategic markets through
partners via embedded finance. By leveraging its innovation-led
tech like AI and privacy-preserving computing to enable secure
financing solutions, bettr enhances the accessibility and ease of
financing, unlocking growth opportunities for MSMEs. For more
information on bettr, please visit
https://www.bettrfinancing.com/
About Ant International
Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International powers the future
of global commerce with digital innovation for everyone and every
business to thrive. In close collaboration with partners, we
support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realize their growth
aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital
payment and financial services solutions.
1 Source: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/smefinance
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240618515438/en/
Media Inquiries Fanny Wu chen.wc@antgroup.com