Dateline: Ant International, regulatory licence, 14 October 2026

Ant International, the payments group behind Alipay+, Antom and WorldFirst, has received a Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (Category II) licence and a Stored Value Facilities licence from the Central Bank of the UAE, according to a release published on 14 October 2026. The release, Fintechbits notes, gives no launch date for either Antom or WorldFirst in the UAE and calls the acquiring licence only an important step towards merchant acquiring, so Ant International holds the permissions without saying when merchants can use them. Ant International says it processes 20 million transactions a day on average worldwide.

What the two Ant International licences cover

The licences map onto two different Ant International businesses. The RPSCS licence is tied to Antom, Ant International’s merchant payments arm, which the release describes as a step towards offering merchant acquiring in the UAE. Antom says it supports more than 300 payment methods, consumers in more than 200 markets and settlement in more than 140 currencies.

The SVF licence goes to WorldFirst, Ant International’s global account business. WorldFirst says it has served more than 1.6 million customers, with payments in more than 100 currencies across more than 210 countries and regions. A stored value licence lets it hold client balances locally rather than only routing money through the UAE.

Alipay+ sits outside both licences. The release says UAE merchants can already take payments from foreign wallet users through Alipay+, and that this will continue through partnerships with locally licensed banks and acquirers, independent of the new permissions.

How the UAE fits Ant International’s expansion

Leiming Chen, Ant International’s chief sustainability officer and senior vice president, ties the move to the government’s “We are UAE 2031” strategy and says the company plans to launch “AI-powered global payment and account solutions” under the CBUAE framework.

The UAE has become a licensing stop for payment and crypto firms alike. Fintechbits covered Kraken’s plan to launch in the UAE after full approval from Dubai’s VARA, which is the emirate-level virtual asset regulator. Ant International’s permissions come from the federal central bank instead, which governs card acquiring and stored value. Antom has also been widening its distribution elsewhere, including the BNPL distribution arrangement Fintechbits reported.

Fintechbits analysis

Fintechbits analysis

Why Ant International wants its own acquiring licence

Ant International has reached UAE merchants through Alipay+ and locally licensed partners, which means those partners own the merchant contract and take a share of the economics. An RPSCS licence lets Antom contract with merchants directly, set its own pricing and keep the merchant relationship. That matters most for the tourism and retail merchants Alipay+ already reaches, because Antom can sell them acquiring and its digital tools in one package.

The WorldFirst licence gets less attention in the release but may prove just as useful. Gulf-based exporters and e-commerce sellers need multi-currency accounts, and a locally licensed stored value provider is easier for them to trust and for banks to deal with. WorldFirst competes there with Wise, Airwallex and local banks.

Timing is the weak spot. The release offers no launch date, no first merchant and no pricing, so the permissions stay on paper until Ant International sets a date. Ant International will also be selling against established acquirers such as Network International and the large local banks. The licences give Ant International the right to compete for UAE merchants, and it still has to win them one contract at a time.

Frequently asked questions

Which licences did Ant International receive in the UAE?

Ant International received a Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (Category II) licence and a Stored Value Facilities licence from the Central Bank of the UAE. The first supports Antom’s plan for merchant acquiring, and the second covers WorldFirst’s cross-border account services.

Does Alipay+ change in the UAE?

No. The release says Alipay+ will keep operating in the UAE through partnerships with locally licensed banks and acquirers, independent of the new licences.

What does the release leave out?

Fintechbits notes that the release gives no launch date for Antom or WorldFirst in the UAE and describes the RPSCS licence only as a step towards merchant acquiring. It also names no merchants, partners or pricing.

What to Watch Next

The first concrete sign will be Antom signing a named UAE merchant on direct acquiring, or WorldFirst opening accounts for UAE-based sellers. Either would show how quickly Ant International turns the CBUAE permissions into revenue, and whether it prices aggressively against the local acquirers.

Why this matters

The release, Fintechbits notes, gives no launch date for Antom or WorldFirst in the UAE and calls the acquiring licence only a step towards merchant acquiring. What Ant International gained is the right to acquire card payments directly and hold stored value under the Central Bank of the UAE, rather than relying on local partners. For a group handling 20 million transactions a day, that means keeping more of the margin. The open question is when the first UAE merchants go live.

Primary sources

businesswire.com | PRESS RELEASE | https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261014662732/en/Ant-International-Obtains-Key-Licenses-from-the-Central-Bank-of-the-UAE-to-Support-Digital-Payments-in-the-AI-Era

ant-intl.com | COMPANY WEBSITE | https://www.ant-intl.com/

centralbank.ae | REGULATOR | https://www.centralbank.ae/