[7] In March 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ant's flagship Tianhong Yu'e Bao money-market fund was the largest in the world, with over 588 million users, or more than a third of China's population, contributing cash to it.
[14] On 12 April 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that under the pressure from the Chinese government, Ant Group would be transformed into a financial holding company overseen by the People's Bank of China.
[18] As of 26 April 2016, Ant Group had around 450 million annual active users, with Credit Suisse estimating that 58% of China's online payment transactions went through Alipay.
In January 2018, the companies decided to terminate the deal after approval was not granted from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States due to U.S. national security concerns.
[19][21][22] The same month, the Cyberspace Administration of China stated that Ant Group had failed to meet the country's personal data protection standards.
[23] In September 2017, Ant Group formed a joint venture with Sir Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings to launch a digital wallet service in Hong Kong.
[32] The China Securities Regulatory Commission previously imposed new restrictions on money-market funds, a move attributed to the size and growth of Yu'e Bao, an Ant offering.
[37] The Forbes magazine published an article that argued that China was right to stop the Ant Group’s IPO, as it was a "dangerous business model" that was going down a systematic risky path that can lead to a repeat of the same conditions that caused the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis.
[40] The Wall Street Journal attributed the suspension to the personal will of Xi, who had become infuriated by Ma's comments, citing "Chinese officials with knowledge of the matter",[35] though these assertions have also been characterized as "rumors".
[49] On 15 January 2021, Ant Group announced that it will overhaul its business structure in accordance with the Chinese central bank and its financial regulators' wishes.
State spokesmen announced that the Ant Group's consumer finance branch will be regulated as a financial institution, in lieu of a technology startup.
[51] The move separated Ant Group's consumer lending businesses, credit card-like Huabei and micro-loan provider Jiebei, from Alipay’s other financial offerings with effect from September 2021.
[55] The service was briefly available to all Alipay users before it was taken down less than ten days later as Ant Group does not hold a fund rating license that is required before an entity can assess and publicly share information about the investment prospects of financial instruments.
[57] In July 2022, Chinese authorities give a tentative green light to Ant Group to revive its initial public offering plans in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.
[58] In November 2022, Reuters reported that the People's Bank of China was readying to fine Ant Group around US$1 billion, potentially ending its two-year overhaul.
The company, in its 2023 sustainability report, revealed that it had received government approval to release products powered by its "Bailing" AI large language model to the public.
[64] Partnerships exist between Alipay and various European digital wallet apps, including ePassi (Finland), Vipps (Norway), MOMO (Spain), Pagaqui (Portugal) and Bluecode (Austria).
[60]: 225 In September 2019, a product within the Alipay app called Ant Forest received a Champions of the Earth award, the United Nation's highest environmental honor, for turning the green activities of half a billion people into real trees planted in some of China's most arid regions.
Three other Ant officials, Chairman Eric Jing, CEO Simon Hu and non-executive director Jiang Fang, held equal stakes in the remainder of Yunbo, with 22% each.
[85] In September 2020, former Google China president and venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee said in a public speech that Sinovation Ventures had assisted Megvii, a Beijing-based company known for providing artificial intelligence products to various businesses, in obtaining a large amount of private facial data from Ant Group to “analyze how to enter various industries.” Following Lee's speech, Ant Group denied providing Megvii facial data.
[87][88] In January 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that China's regulators were trying to make Ant share the troves of personal data in its payment and lifestyle app, Alipay, which is used by over a billion people.
The People's Bank of China, which imposed the fine, accused Ant of breaching laws related to corporate governance, payment and settlement business, consumer protection, and anti-money laundering obligations.
Despite growing international sanctions and economic pressure on Russia following its actions in Ukraine, these partnerships remain active, providing digital financial solutions to Russian consumers.
This ecosystem supports a wide range of activities from daily transactions to more complex financial needs, facilitating global payments, food delivery, and access to microloans.