Ant Financial, formerly known as Alipay, to invest $184.5M in Telenor Bank

Telenor Group has reached a strategic partnership agreement with Ant Financial Services Group (“Ant Financial”), formerly also known as Alipay and established by Alibaba Group and its founder Jack Ma.

According to the terms of this partnership, Ant Financial will invest USD 184.5 m for a 45% stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank (“TMB”), a subsidiary of Telenor Group, to further develop TMB’s mobile payment and digital financial services.

The MoU was signed today at the Prime Minister Secretariat in the presence of Prime Minister, Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, government officials and management of Telenor and Ant Financial. The strategic partnership between Telenor Group and Ant Financial combines TMB’s knowledge and local market presence with more than 20 million customers, and Ant’s technology in Alipay, one of the world’s largest digital payment platform, and other financial services, to bring mobile payment and inclusive financial services to individuals as well as small and micro businesses in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi appreciated the partnership between Telenor Group and Ant Financials and said that it is a manifestation of favorable Government policies for foreign investment in Pakistan. He welcomed Ant Financial’s decision to invest in Pakistan and lauded Telenor’s efforts towards the socio-economic development of the country. He said that the collaboration would help to broaden access to financial services through digital payment solutions.

Speaking at this occasion, Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Group said:

“Partnering with a world leading payment provider like Ant Financial will strengthen Telenor Microfinance Bank’s future payment platform and set new standards in the digital banking business in Pakistan. The establishment of this partnership is well in-line with the expressed Telenor strategy of focusing our financial services efforts in emerging markets, making sure that we’re able to build and modernize the businesses in line with customer needs. I’m truly excited about the opportunities this partnership brings for Telenor Microfinance Bank going forward.”

TMB offers Easypaisa, Pakistan’s first mobile financial services platform launched in 2009, which has since developed into the largest branchless banking service in Pakistan in terms of agent network, active accounts, and transaction value, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.[1] TMB also provides micro-finance and related financial services to the less privileged and unbanked segment of the Pakistani society.

While talking about the importance of this partnership, Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial said:

“Ant Financial is pleased to be in this strategic partnership with Telenor Group. Alipay’s technologies make us uniquely placed to achieve our mission of bringing the world equal opportunities. Today, we are very happy to share our technology knowhow with Telenor Microfinance Bank to bring improved user experience on the Easypaisa mobile payment platform, as well as provide inclusive financial services in a transparent, safe, low cost and efficient way to the unbanked and underbanked population in Pakistan.”

According to the World Bank, more than 100 million Pakistanis are unbanked, accounting for 5% of the world’s unbanked population. This is expected to change drastically in the years to come, especially with rising smartphone penetration. This partnership can be expected to drastically accelerate converting that uncovered population by easier micro-finance facilities provided by the conjecture of Telenor Group and Ant Financials.