Ant International deploys AI to streamline and secure remittances

By Gloria Mathias

Ant International, a global digital payment and financial technology provider, has integrated Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance and secure millions of daily cross-border transactions for merchants across over 200 global markets.

“Integration of AI into the processing of cross-border transactions is of critical importance to further strengthening global trade and commerce, especially for SMEs who up to now can’t afford real-time global settlement services. In deploying AI in merchant services, enhanced fraud detection and prevention against new scamming schemes like deepfakes is as important, if not more important, as increasing operational efficiency,” said Yang Peng, Chief Executive Officer of Ant International.

Leveraging AI, Ant International can predict currency exchange rates not only on a daily or weekly basis but also on an hourly scale. This advanced AI model, developed over several years, enables precise forecasts for both inbound and outbound transactions, helping merchants reduce transaction costs and allowing them to allocate more resources toward business growth.

The new AI-powered FX model can consolidate hundreds of existing models into a single, more accurate system. However, relying heavily on one model to process millions of daily transactions also introduces risks. “We have safeguards in place to ensure human intervention if discrepancies arise between the new and old models. We avoid having blind faith in AI, maintaining checks to uphold accuracy,” shared Mr. Yang.

Advancements in generative AI, particularly deepfake technologies, are posing significant security challenges for financial institutions. These sophisticated forgeries are increasingly difficult for humans to detect. To counteract AI-assisted cyberattacks, Ant International has developed an anti-deepfake electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) tool over two years.

OCBC and Ant International signed an MoU on Tuesday to focus on achieving 24/7 real-time transactions between Singapore and Malaysia via Ant International’s Whale platform using AI and innovations to improve efficiency and transparency.

PayPay, Japan’s top QR payment operator, also announced an expanded partnership with Alipay+, Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment and digitalisation technology solution. This partnership broadens PayPay’s merchant coverage network across Japan and allows foreign tourists to use domestic eWallets to make their preferred payments.