Japanese wealth management company Mitsui Gunma Management has commented on the recent developments of Alibaba's Alipay.
Ant Financial announced its purchase of the fast-growing UK-based foreign exchange company WorldFirst. For Ant Financial, which is widely known as the financial backer of mobile payment operator Alipay, its recent acquisition gives it newfound territory in the EMEA region, which is a part of the company's expansion programme.
WorldFirst provides its customers with international payment solutions and foreign exchange currency services on major currency pairs. The company has already established its merchants within the United Kingdom to accept payments through Alipay for its Chinese travelers.
"The acquisition made by Ant Financial is going to complement both businesses strategically; Alipay has a multitude of technology solutions to reach a greater number of its customers, and it will be interesting to see how fast WorldFirst will adapt to this successful business model," commented James Morgan, Head of Equity Derivatives at Mitsui Gunma Management.
The acquisition comes a year after its previous unsuccessful bid, when they had proposed a $1.2 billion purchase on U.S.-based MoneyGram.
Mitsui Gunma Management research and analysts have also highlighted that the Chinese company Alipay are already looking into blockchain technology to provide much faster and secure payments on international money transfers.
Alipay has amassed a value of over 1 billion annual active users, and is currently estimated to be valued at over $150 billion U.S. dollars.
"Ant Financial is continuing to invest in acquisitions and strategic partnerships to allow its payment methods to be used over different countries around the world," added Mr. Dennis Jones, Head of Trading at Mitsui Gunma Management.
About Mitsui Gunma Management
Mitsui Gunma Management's operational headquarters are based in Osaka, Japan and are responsible for the diligent oversight of more than $4.5 billion worth of assets on behalf of valued clients located in Asia and EMEA.
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Takaki Hokichi
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