Ant Digital's AI Offensive Aims to Remake Asian Fintech

BANGKOK, THAILAND – April 23, 2026 – At the Money20/20 Asia fintech conference, Ant Digital Technologies articulated a bold vision for the future of finance: a landscape where every financial institution operates as an 'AI organization.' The company is positioning itself as the chief architect of this transformation, leveraging a full-stack AI ecosystem and an aggressive expansion strategy aimed squarely at Asia's burgeoning markets.

In a keynote address titled "Beyond the Super-App: The AI-Driven Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Model for Global Finance," Garry Sien, Chief Innovation and Solutions Officer of International Business at Ant Digital Technologies, argued that the industry is at a critical inflection point. He detailed the rise of Agentic AI—autonomous systems that can reason, plan, and execute complex tasks—as a key driver of value for financial institutions and their customers.

"To be future-ready, the financial services industry must evolve into an 'AI organization' and continuously embed AI throughout its organizational capabilities, including people, systems, and processes," Sien stated. He explained that this goes far beyond simple automation, requiring a fundamental shift in how financial services are developed, delivered, and managed.

The Dawn of the 'AI Organization'

The call to become an 'AI organization' represents a move from automating processes to achieving genuine operational autonomy. This evolution is powered by Agentic AI, which differs significantly from the generative AI applications that have recently gained widespread attention. While 77% of banks have experimented with generative AI for back-office tasks, only 31% have begun implementing agentic solutions, which are poised to drive revenue growth and strategic advantage.

Agentic AI systems can independently manage entire workflows, such as fraud detection, compliance reviews, and personalized customer interactions, with minimal human oversight. These agents learn and adapt in real-time, promising dramatic efficiency gains. Industry analyses suggest AI could boost bank profitability by 30% while cutting costs by up to 40% by 2030. For instance, AI-driven compliance systems can reduce review times from 20 minutes to just three, freeing up human experts to focus on higher-value strategic tasks.

Ant Digital Technologies is building the toolkit for this future with its Agentar platform, an enterprise-grade development environment designed for creating and deploying these intelligent automated applications. The platform provides a full-stack, finance-grade solution for everything from knowledge integration and agent development to production deployment, enabling institutions to build their own bespoke AI capabilities.

Beyond the Super-App: A Platform for All

Central to the company's strategy is its Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model, a significant evolution from the monolithic 'super-app' concept. Instead of offering a single, all-encompassing application, Ant Digital provides the underlying infrastructure for other financial players to build their own customized, AI-powered services. This approach democratizes access to cutting-edge technology, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and regional banks that may lack the resources to develop such systems from scratch.

The company's full-stack ecosystem includes a suite of powerful tools:

• ZOLOZ: An AI-powered digital identity platform providing eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) solutions. It can perform RealID checks in under three minutes and uses advanced anti-spoofing technology to combat deepfake fraud, a growing threat in digital finance.
• mPaaS (Mobile Platform as a Service): A cloud-to-end solution that allows partners to rapidly develop their own scalable, cross-platform 'super-apps' and integrate AI functionalities seamlessly.
• AntChain: An enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure capable of handling a billion users and a billion daily transactions, providing a secure foundation for digital assets and verifiable credentials.

This modular, platform-based approach allows partners to pick and choose the technologies they need, embedding them directly into their existing operations to drive digital transformation from within.

A Strategic Push into Asia's Booming Market

Ant Digital's technological push is perfectly timed with the explosive growth of Asia's fintech sector. The Asia-Pacific fintech market, valued at nearly USD 168 billion in 2026, is projected to more than double to USD 348 billion by 2031. This growth is fueled by mobile-first consumer behavior and a strong focus on digitalizing the SME sector, which represents the vast majority of businesses in economies like Malaysia.

Recognizing this opportunity, the company has made a series of strategic moves to deepen its roots in the region. In 2025, it established its International Headquarters in Hong Kong, leveraging the city's status as a global financial hub to advance its Web3 and AI initiatives. This was followed in 2026 by the opening of a new operation center in Malaysia and the launch of a major recruitment drive across Southeast Asia, signaling a long-term commitment to building local talent and ecosystems.

These hubs serve as springboards to deploy its solutions across a region hungry for digital transformation. According to the "2026: The Future of Fintech in APAC" report, a key industry trend is accelerated investment in SME-focused fintech, particularly for cross-border trade, risk modeling, and streamlined compliance—all areas where Ant's AI and blockchain technologies offer significant advantages.

From Partnerships to Proven Impact

The effectiveness of this strategy is already evident in a series of high-impact partnerships across Asia. These collaborations demonstrate how the PaaS model empowers local players to enhance their offerings and expand their reach.

In Malaysia, the company's technology underpins major financial services. Its partnership with Touch 'n Go has enabled the e-wallet to verify over 16 million users through the ZOLOZ eKYC solution. The collaboration also produced the EPOS360 SME solution, an AI-driven system that provides sales platforms and instant payments to over 1.2 million Malaysian SMEs. Separately, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad used Ant's mPaaS to build Malaysia's first wealth-centric 'super-app,' unifying its diverse financial products into a single, intuitive platform.

Beyond Malaysia, the impact is spreading. Bank CenterCredit, one of Kazakhstan's largest banks, is leveraging mPaaS to launch its first super-app for its 3 million clients. In Vietnam, a new partnership with IT giant FPT Software will integrate Ant's solutions—including ZOLOZ and mPaaS—into FPT's service offerings, extending their reach to businesses across Southeast Asia.

With a global network of over 300 partners and more than 10,000 enterprise customers, and with international business revenue reportedly jumping 300% in 2023, Ant Digital Technologies is rapidly translating its vision into a tangible market presence. By providing the tools for others to innovate, the company is not just participating in Asia's fintech revolution; it is actively building its foundation.