Ant International is employing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to streamline and secure cross-border transactions for nearly 100 million SMEs across over 200 markets.

One of its key innovations is an AI-powered foreign exchange (FX) model capable of predicting currency exchange rates hourly.

This enhanced precision helps reduce transaction costs for merchants, offering them greater financial flexibility.

The model consolidates hundreds of existing systems into a single, more accurate framework, reflecting years of development.

To ensure reliability, Ant International maintains safeguards with human intervention ready to address discrepancies, avoiding over-reliance on AI.

In response to the growing threat of deepfake technologies, Ant International has also developed an advanced anti-deepfake electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) tool.

This system, which has a detection success rate exceeding 99%, was developed over two years to counter AI-assisted fraud and bolster transaction security.

The company recently signed a MoU with OCBC Bank to enable 24/7 real-time transactions between Singapore and Malaysia using Ant’s Whale platform.

Additionally, Japan’s PayPay has expanded its partnership with Alipay+, Ant’s cross-border payment solution, to enhance payment options for foreign tourists in Japan.

Yang Peng, CEO of Ant International, said,

“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 deepfaking is as important, if not more important, as increasing operational efficiency.”

Featured image: Yang Peng, CEO of Ant International during the 2024 Singapore Fintech Festival