Ant International and Abdul Latif Jameel Finance, a leading provider of innovative financing solutions regulated by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The aim of the partnership is to promote the growth and competitiveness of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Saudi Arabia (population 35.3 million) through advanced digital services.

According to SAMA, by the end of the second quarter of 2025, 79 percent of payment transactions in the largest Arab Gulf state were cashless. Additionally, the number of fintech companies in Saudi Arabia rose to 280, reported Arab News.

Focus on Institutional and Retail Customers

The collaboration begins with the global treasury and digitisation services of WorldFirst, a subsidiary of Ant International. According to a press release, both partners intend to jointly explore new avenues in digital financial services—for both businesses and consumers in the Kingdom.

Planned key focus areas include:

• Integration of WorldFirst technologies to support Abdul Latif Jameel Finance’s digitization strategy in financial and consumer services.
• Joint development of advanced cross-border payment solutions leveraging Alipay+, Ant International’s global mobile wallet platform, to foster local and international growth of Saudi merchants.
• Expansion of offerings in embedded finance, utilising Ant International’s digital technologies.

Industry-wide Agenda

Khalid Alsharif, CEO of Abdul Latif Jameel Finance, stated: «Our collaboration with Ant International is an important step toward realising our vision of creating innovative and more inclusive financial solutions in Saudi Arabia. As the fintech ecosystem continues to evolve, we remain committed to actively supporting the development of the financial sector in line with Vision 2030.»

Leiming Chen, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer of Ant International, emphasised:
«The MoU marks another important milestone in Ant International’s journey to build cross-sector partnerships with regional market leaders to support Saudi Arabia’s digital economy agenda.»

Clara Shi, CEO of WorldFirst, added: «By combining our fintech expertise with the knowledge and network of Abdul Latif Jameel Finance, we aim to contribute to strengthening regional trade during this time of rapid digital transformation in Saudi Arabia.»

Strongly Anchored in East and Middle East

Ant International is headquartered in Singapore and operates worldwide with its brands Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst, and Bettr—focusing on Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. The company offers solutions in global wallet gateways, merchant payment services, international account services, and embedded finance. Ant Group (formerly known as Ant Financial) is a fintech company spun off from Alibaba Group in 2014.

Abdul Latif Jameel is a prominent Saudi entrepreneur and founder of the namesake Abdul Latif Jameel Group, established in 1945. Today, the company is a leading diversified conglomerate active in various sectors, including automotive trading (official Toyota partner in Saudi Arabia), financing, energy, real estate, logistics, engineering, and other industries.