Ant International Secures Major Payment & SVF Licenses from Central Bank of UAE

Ant International has secured two pivotal licenses from the Central Bank of the UAE: Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (Category II) and Stored Value Facilities. This regulatory milestone allows the fintech giant to deploy its merchant and cross-border account services directly in the UAE, marking a significant expansion of its AI-powered financial infrastructure into the Middle East.

What was announced

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has granted Ant International the Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (Category II) (RPSCS) license alongside a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) license. These regulatory approvals are designed to integrate Ant International’s suite of digital payment solutions into the UAE’s financial ecosystem, supporting the nation’s "We are UAE 2031" digitalisation strategy. The RPSCS license specifically paves the way for Antom, the group’s merchant payment and digitisation arm, to launch merchant acquiring services within the UAE. Antom currently supports more than 300 payment methods across 200 markets, facilitating transactions in over 140 currencies. By introducing AI-integrated services, Antom aims to help local merchants engage both domestic and international consumers through in-store and online channels.

Simultaneously, the SVF license enables WorldFirst to provide digitalised cross-border financial services and account management for businesses in the region. While Ant International’s unified wallet gateway, Alipay+, already facilitates cross-border payments in the UAE through existing partnerships with local banks and acquirers, these new licenses allow for a more direct and expanded service offering independent of those established frameworks. Globally, Ant International processes an average of 20 million transactions daily, providing a range of solutions from embedded credit to treasury management. The company is also developing agentic payment solutions to prepare for the shift toward AI-driven commerce.

"The RPSCS and SVF licenses mark a crucial milestone in Ant International’s efforts to support the UAE’s fintech ecosystem, aligning with the nation’s ‘We are UAE 2031’ digitalisation and fintech strategy. In accordance with the applicable CBUAE regulatory framework, we look forward to launching AI-powered global payment and account solutions to make cross-border payments and financial management more accessible."

Leiming Chen, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at Ant International.

The companies involved

Ant International is a major global provider of digital payments and financial technology, operating as a key division of Ant Group. The company manages a diverse portfolio of fintech brands designed to facilitate global commerce and financial inclusion. Among these is Antom, which focuses on merchant-side digitisation and payment processing, helping businesses scale by connecting them to a vast array of international payment methods. Another critical component is WorldFirst, a global account service provider under the Ant Group umbrella that focuses on cross-border financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Ant International’s footprint spans Asia, Europe, and the Americas, where it provides infrastructure for everything from agentic payment solutions to sophisticated treasury management. The company’s strategy has increasingly shifted toward AI-native infrastructure, leveraging artificial intelligence to automate and secure high-volume transaction environments. By securing direct licensing in the UAE, Ant International positions itself as a primary infrastructure provider in one of the world’s fastest-growing fintech hubs, moving beyond its traditional reliance on third-party banking partnerships for regional operations.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed Ant International’s aggressive expansion of its AI-driven payment ecosystem. Recently, we reported that Google Gemini and Antom Partner to Scale Google AI Plus Access Across Asia, highlighting the company’s focus on AI-native infrastructure. This followed news that Antom Unifies Southeast Asian Leadership to Scale AI-Native Payment Infrastructure to better coordinate its regional growth. In terms of merchant services, Antom Partners with Affirm to Bring Flexible Pay-Over-Time Options to Global Merchants, expanding its credit offerings. Additionally, the company has deepened its regional roots through strategic moves such as when DOKU Rebrands as Antom Deepens Strategic Investment in Indonesian Fintech Leader.

What this means

This move signals a shift in the UAE’s fintech landscape, as one of the world’s largest payment processors moves from a partnership-led model to a directly licensed operator. By securing both RPSCS and SVF licenses, Ant International places significant pressure on traditional regional banks and existing cross-border payment providers who have previously served as the primary gateways for international commerce. The introduction of AI-powered "agentic" payment solutions raises questions about how quickly local incumbents can modernize their own technology stacks to compete. For the industry, this confirms the UAE’s status as a critical battleground for global fintech giants seeking to bridge the gap between Asian capital and Middle Eastern markets.