Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, which is controlled by Jack Ma, a co-founder of Chinese web retailer Alibaba, recently agreed to pay USD 184.5 million to acquire a 45-percent stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank, a Pakistani unit of Norway’s Telenor Group. Telenor Microfinance, which has 20 million customers as of 2018, launched its Easypaisa mobile banking service in 2009. Ant’s mobile payment service, Alipay has 520 million users and coverage in 40 countries as of 2018.
Ant CEO Eric Jing said, “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.”
In addition to Alipay, Ant has units dedicated to credit scoring, technology services for financial institutions, a wealth-management app, and an online bank for small enterprises. Although financial data on Ant are unavailable, the firm sold asset-backed securities valued at CNY 238 billion (USD 37 billion) during 2017.
Telenor Microfinance has 176 branches and 75,000 agent locations as of 2018. For the six months ending June 2017, it reported after-tax profit of PKR 315 million (USD 2.7 million) on total assets of PKR 39 billion (USD 340 million).
The Telenor Group provides telecommunication, financial and other services to 178 million customers in 12 Eurasian markets as of 2018. During 2017, it took in revenue of NOK 125 billion (USD 16 billion).
Sources and Additional Resources
Telenor press release
https://www.telenor.com/media/press-release/telenor-group-and-ant-financial-in-strategic-partnership-to-deliver-inclusive-financial-services-in-pakistan/
Ant’s business units
https://www.antfin.com/family.htm
About Telenor Group
https://www.telenor.com/about-us/telenor-at-a-glance/
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