Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD Bank) has signed a technology deal with Ant Financial, an affiliate company of the Chinese Alibaba Group, to support its digital transformation drive.
This is the third agreement Ant Financial signed with established banks this month. Previously it inked similar agreement with Huaxia Bank and China Everbright Bank.
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As per the agreement, Ant Financial and SPD Bank will partner in online risk management, including loan, transaction and marketing fraud prevention.
Additionally, the technology vendor will offer its financial-grade technologies in AI, supply chain finance, biometric identification and risk management to the bank.
Ant Financial executive chairman and CEO Eric Jing said: “Ant Financial and SPD Bank share the same vision for the future. With this partnership, we will explore how to improve efficiency in banking operations, as well as how to leverage technology to create greater value for our users.”
In a separate development, Ant Financial has closed a $10bn funding round from a group of global and local investors, valuing the company at $150bn.
The capital-raising comes ahead of Ant Financial’s widely expected initial public offering (IPO). At present, Ant Financial serves nearly 870 million users across the globe.
