Ant International announced an expanded collaboration with HSBC to enhance real-time treasury management services in the Middle East. By leveraging HSBC’s global Tokenised Deposit Service (TDS), Ant International aims to improve the efficiency of its treasury operations across the region.

As part of the collaboration, Ant International has successfully completed pilot transactions across two payment corridors connecting the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong:

• Intra-UAE dirham transfers: Real-time, dirham-denominated tokenised deposit transactions within the UAE.
• Cross-border US dollar payments initiated from the UAE: US dollar-denominated tokenised deposit transfers between the UAE and international markets, including Hong Kong and Singapore.

These transactions were initiated via WhaleRTP – Ant International’s proprietary, blockchain-based real-time treasury management platform – and executed in real-time through HSBC’s TDS. Ant International and HSBC jointly designed the transaction workflow. This collaboration makes Ant International HSBC’s first client in the Middle East to utilise its TDS service.

Since 2019, Ant International has used blockchain and tokenised deposit technologies to support real-time treasury management across major financial centres, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe and the United States. WhaleRTP is currently supported by more than 20 leading global banks, including HSBC, and enables real-time transfers in more than 17 currencies, including the US dollar, Hong Kong dollar and UAE dirham.

The expansion into the Middle East will support Ant International’s regional growth and help its businesses including Alipay+, Antom and WorldFirst—serve local enterprises and travellers more effectively.

Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech and Senior Vice President at Ant International said, “This marks an important milestone in our journey towards achieving real-time treasury management across the globe. With the support of regional bank partners such as HSBC, we aim to establish a global treasury hub in the Middle East in the near future to better support our global operations. We look forward to contributing to the development of the region's rapidly growing digital finance ecosystem.”

Kyle Boag, Regional Head of Global Payments Solutions, HSBC MENAT, said, “We’re pleased to support Ant International on its journey to achieving real-time treasury management in the Middle East with our Tokenised Deposit Service. Interoperability between tokenised deposit networks demonstrates how HSBC can connect different infrastructures to deliver greater value for our clients. For corporates, this means addressing practical challenges such as moving liquidity across markets and financial institutions and improving cash visibility.”

HSBC’s TDS is already live in six markets: HK, SGP, LUX, UK, US and the UAE. It also supports multiple currencies including CNH, HKD, SGD, EUR, GBP, USD and AED. The service provides clients with instant, 24/7 access to liquidity across HSBC’s network, while allowing them to continue benefiting from HSBC’s established banking infrastructure and oversight.