Ant International officially opened its Global Development Centre (GDC) in Kuala Lumpur, positioning the city as a hub for AI‑driven financial technology. The centre, located at The Exchange 106 in the TRX financial district, will host roughly 1,500 employees—over half in technology roles—to support Ant’s AI, payments and SME digitalisation platforms across Southeast Asia and beyond.
Global Development Centre Launch and Immediate Objectives
The inauguration ceremony was officiated by Malaysia’s Prime Minister, YAB Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Ant International’s CEO Peng Yang described the GDC as a concrete step in the company’s “6T” sustainable development strategy, which emphasizes global travel, trade, growth, technology, talent and a trustworthy digital ecosystem. The centre will focus on developing AI‑as‑a‑Service solutions, such as the EPOS360 platform, and on nurturing local talent through collaborations with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the Ministry of Higher Education.
Ant International has already created around 1,500 fintech roles in Malaysia, with more than 50 % in technology positions. Roughly half of the tech team are recent graduates drawn from more than 30 Malaysian universities. The GDC will deepen existing partnerships with public and private sector stakeholders, including hackathons, training programmes and curated curricula aimed at expanding the pool of “FinAI” talent.
Partnerships and SME Digitalisation
Ant International’s presence in Malaysia builds on long‑standing collaborations with local firms. Together with CIMB and TNG Digital, Ant helped launch the Touch ‘n Go eWallet in 2017, which now serves over 26 million consumers and businesses. Ant’s AI suite—including the GenAI Cockpit and AI travel agent—powers TNG Digital’s AI‑enabled services.
Through its Alipay+ unified wallet gateway and a partnership with PayNet, Ant enables international travellers to pay at millions of Malaysian merchants using home‑country e‑wallets and bank apps. In the first half of 2026, more than 600 000 merchants—primarily SMEs—received payments from an Alipay+ partner, a rise of over 70 % year‑on‑year. Traveller spending via the DuitNow national QR system increased by more than 60 %, with Alipay+ accounting for the largest share of inbound QR transactions.
Ant’s merchant solutions, Antom and 2C2P, have expanded the digital merchant base by nearly 60 % and lifted transaction volumes by over 50 % year‑on‑year. The company now supports 300 + payment methods in more than 220 markets, encompassing all major card schemes, 50 mobile‑payment partners and over 10 national QR systems.
In January 2026, Ant International launched EPOS360 in Malaysia, an AI‑as‑a‑Service platform that bundles POS management, payments, banking, credit financing and growth tools. EPOS360 currently serves more than 14 000 Malaysian SMEs. Additional initiatives include WorldFirst’s in‑principle Class A Money Services Business licence from Bank Negara Malaysia (2025) and the Bettr partnership with Muslim Pro to deliver Shariah‑compliant financial services to gig workers and micro‑enterprises.
Signals of Growth and Future Infrastructure Plans
The GDC’s establishment signals Ant International’s confidence in Malaysia’s regulatory environment and talent pipeline. The company’s CEO Cyril Han highlighted that the “agentic AI revolution” will intensify over the next 6‑12 months, prompting Ant to prepare AI‑driven commerce solutions that align with Malaysia’s AI Nation 2030 vision.
Ant International and CIMB are exploring next‑generation financial infrastructure, including tokenised deposits and innovative treasury solutions designed to improve cross‑border payment efficiency and liquidity management. These efforts aim to reinforce Malaysia’s ambition to become a leading global payments and treasury hub.
AirAsia’s use of Ant’s open‑sourced AI FX model reportedly cut foreign‑exchange‑related costs by 40 %, illustrating the commercial impact of Ant’s AI capabilities on large enterprises operating in the region.
Key Takeaways
- Ant International opened a Global Development Centre in Kuala Lumpur, employing about 1,500 staff with more than half in technology roles.
- In the first half of 2026, Alipay+‑linked merchants in Malaysia grew over 70 % year‑on‑year, and traveller spending via DuitNow rose more than 60 %.
- Ant’s EPOS360 AI‑as‑a‑Service platform now serves over 14 000 Malaysian SMEs, and its AI FX model helped AirAsia reduce FX costs by 40 %.
FinanceInsyte's Take
The GDC underscores Malaysia’s growing relevance as a production base for AI‑enabled fintech, offering banks and payments firms a local source of talent and a testbed for cross‑border solutions. While Ant’s partnerships and platform roll‑outs are concrete, the broader impact on regional payment‑infrastructure standards will depend on regulatory alignment and the speed at which tokenised and treasury innovations move from pilot to production. Executives should monitor the rollout of Ant‑CIMB infrastructure projects and the uptake of EPOS360 among SMEs as early indicators of scalable, AI‑driven financial services in Southeast Asia.
Source: Businesswire
