Beijing (AFP)

Chinese Ant, which is about to make the biggest IPO in history, is an electronic payment giant in its country, but the blue ant brand remains little known abroad.

Ant Group, which plans to raise a record $ 34 billion in a dual operation in Hong Kong and Shanghai, is affiliated with Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba.

This group was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, the richest man in China.

- Portfolio 2.0 -

Ant Group is the owner of Alipay, a payment platform that has quickly become indispensable in the daily life of the Chinese.

This system is in the form of a smartphone application.

Alipay allows you to pay for online purchases directly on your screen or in shops using QR codes to scan.

Its main competitor in China is WeChat Pay, owned by internet giant Tencent.

These two platforms have in a few years turned China from a country where cash reigned supreme, to a society that lives virtually cashless.

Even at the market, most people pay for their fruit and vegetable purchases using their phones.

- Stronger than PayPal -

Alipay is the world's largest payment platform.

Present in more than 80 million stores, this system is used each month by more than 700 million people, according to the figures communicated by the company.

Ant claims an annual transaction volume exceeding 118 trillion yuan (14.4 trillion euros), five times more than the American giant PayPal.

Alipay is also at the origin of "Yu'e Bao", a giant investment fund which allows everyone to grow their money from their mobile phone.

The interest rates charged there are much more advantageous than those of traditional banks.

Alipay has revolutionized this industry in China, where around 10% of the population does not have a bank account.

- Blue ant -

Symbol par excellence of savings and foresight, it is a blue ant with all smiles which embodies the logo of Ant ("ant" in English, "mayi" in Chinese).

The choice of this insect quickly became obvious for the company: "What is small is beautiful, and what is small is powerful", explains Ant in his presentation.

Created in 2014, Ant Group has been formally separated from Alibaba for a few years.

The group was previously known as Ant Financial.

- Alibaba as sponsor -

In two decades, the iconic Jack Ma has made Alibaba an e-commerce juggernaut, diversified into cinema, video content, a mobile meal delivery application, but also ... traditional stores.

The digital revolution and the boom in online services have pushed the billionaire to rethink the way to shop.

How to build trust for transactions between customers and merchants?

The answer will be at the origin of Alipay: the platform will serve as an intermediary and a guarantee.

Merchants will only be able to receive their remuneration once the goods have been received and they will be rated by their customers.

Today, purchases are made online on Alibaba and paid for with Alipay.

An idea far from having, it seems, unanimous support at the beginning.

“This is the stupidest system we've ever seen, no one will use it,” legendary Jack Ma has heard.

burs-apj-sbr / bar / ode

© 2020 AFP