Alibaba (HKG:9988) affiliate Ant International, Standard Chartered Bank (HKG:2888), and the Swift system have begun live trials of a bank-to-wallet payment solution designed to expand cross-border payment options, according to a Wednesday press release.
Initial transactions were completed between a Standard Chartered account and a partner e-wallet through Ant International's Alipay+ gateway, the statement said.
The initiative aims to connect Swift's network of more than 11,500 institutions across 200 markets with Alipay+'s 36 partner wallets, covering about 1.7 billion accounts, with an emphasis on Asian markets.