CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Ant International have entered into a strategic collaboration to explore innovative solutions in cross-border payments, as well as treasury and liquidity management for businesses operating in Malaysia.
From left: Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International; Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech at Ant International; Peng Yang, CEO of Ant International; Novan Amirudin, Group Chief Executive Officer, CIMB; Sylvia Wong, Regional Head, Financial Institutions and Tokenisation, Group Wholesale Banking, CIMB; Chu Kok Wei, Chief Executive Officer, Group Wholesale Banking, CIMB
The partnership will leverage CIMB’s extensive capabilities in cash management, treasury and markets solutions, credit and financing facilities, capital markets activities, and sustainability-focused initiatives, alongside Ant International’s key platforms, including Alipay+, Antom, and Bettr Treasury. By combining their expertise, both organizations aim to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and resilience of financial operations for corporate clients in the region.
Under a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU), CIMB and Ant International plan to jointly develop a digital framework to optimise treasury and liquidity management. This framework will harness Ant International’s next-generation blockchain-based treasury management solutions and is designed to strengthen capital efficiency, improve cross-border liquidity, and reinforce transparency, all while adhering to applicable regulatory guidelines and approvals.
The initiative is intended to create a more robust, interconnected, and scalable financial ecosystem, enabling both parties to better serve institutional and corporate clients in Malaysia. By adopting advanced digital tools, the collaboration also seeks to accelerate the institutional adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the treasury and liquidity space, paving the way for next-generation financial infrastructure solutions across ASEAN.
Novan Amirudin, group CEO of CIMB, described the partnership as a key milestone in the bank’s Forward30 strategy, which aims to embed innovation at the core of its operations. “Our collaboration with Ant International allows us to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and connectivity of cross-border financial services, while positioning CIMB as a leader in scalable and future-ready digital financial infrastructure in the region,” he said.
Douglas Feagin, president of Ant International, highlighted the transformative potential of the partnership. “By combining the strengths of both organizations, we aim to scale institutional adoption of tokenisation and distributed ledger technology, which are central to next-generation financial infrastructure. This will create a more inclusive, efficient, and resilient financial ecosystem for Malaysian businesses,” he added.
The collaboration reflects a growing trend among banks and fintechs to leverage technology for cross-border payments and liquidity solutions, especially as businesses in Malaysia and the wider ASEAN region increasingly seek faster, more secure, and more transparent ways to manage capital flows and financial operations.
