Ant International, a provider of digital payments and financial technology, has obtained a Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (Category II) (RPSCS) licence and a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) licence from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The licences align with the UAE's broader agenda for innovation and digital transformation in the financial sector, including the country's 2031 digitalisation and fintech strategy.
The RPSCS licence is a step towards Antom, Ant International's merchant payment and digitisation services provider, offering merchant acquiring in the UAE. Antom supports more than 300 payment methods, allowing merchants to reach consumers in over 200 markets and transact in more than 140 currencies. It also offers digitisation tools designed to support user engagement. Once launched in the UAE, its AI-integrated services will help local merchants serve both local and international consumers, in-store and online.
WorldFirst accounts and existing Alipay+ operations
The SVF licence allows WorldFirst, Ant International's global account service provider, to offer cross-border financial services in the UAE. Local merchants can already accept cross-border payments from digital wallet users through Alipay+, Ant International's unified wallet gateway. That service will continue to operate through established partnerships with locally licensed banks and acquirers, independently of the new licences.
Leiming Chen, Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Ant International, said the licences support the company's efforts in the UAE fintech ecosystem in line with the national strategy. He added that, in accordance with the applicable CBUAE framework, the company plans to launch AI-powered payment and account solutions to make cross-border payments and financial management more accessible.
Agentic payments and global scale
Ant International processes an average of 20 million transactions a day globally. Across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, it provides payments and account services, embedded credit, and treasury management. The company is also developing agentic payment and account solutions to prepare its partners for AI-driven commerce. The new licences give Ant International a directly regulated presence in the UAE, alongside the partnership-based model it already uses for Alipay+.
