Alipay Goes After Moneygram
The U.S. government blocked the acquisition of Moneygram by Jack Ma's Ant Financial citing security concerns, now Ma is fighting back.
AlipayHK, a subsidiary of Ant Financial, teamed up with Standard Chartered and a Philippines mobile-wallet operator to launch a new remittance service. Ant Financial aims to eventually cut the cost of remittances to near zero, according to founder Jack Ma.
Last January, Alibaba Group's subsidiary Ant Financial agreed to buy a U.S. money transfer service provider Moneygram for $880 million. However, the U.S. government blocked the acquisition citing national security concerns.
Make it Better
Speaking at a launch event in Hong Kong for the new service Ma said «Due to reasons from the U.S. our deal with MoneyGram did not succeed, so I said let’s make one better than MoneyGram that uses the most advanced technology.»
The first remittance conduit for the new remittance service will run between Hong Kong and the Philippines. Given Ma's aggressive market penetration it is highly likely the new service will soon be expanded to other countries.
