Chinese financial technology giant Ant Financial loaded-up an eye-watering $14 billion in its latest funding round. The cash call makes Ant the world’s largest fintech.
Ant Financial, (Ant) the payments giant controlled by Jack Ma, closed a mega-funding round raising a total of $14 billion. The fund raising spanned local and international investors including Singapore’s sovereign wealth funds GIC, Temasek, and Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Ant said in a media statement.
Ant, spun off from Alibaba Group before the e-commerce firm’s 2014 public listing, provides a range of financial services spanning wealth management products, credit services and micro-loans.
Targeting the «Unbanked»
The huge war chest of funds will now be used to accelerate subsidiary Alipay’s global expansion plans, invest in developing technology and add to its high tech talent pool. The backing of the Malaysian and Singaporean wealth funds will bolster the fintech seeks to promote the use of Alipay beyond China.
Ant has aggressively expanded its overseas payment services ramping up pressure on traditional banking players. The focus has been felt in Southeast Asia where it is trying to win over some of the estimated 450 million people with limited access to banking services.
