WorldFirst
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If you've spent time in China, you use Alipay every day.
What most foreign business owners don't know: WorldFirst is part of the same group (Ant Group). Same ecosystem, different job. Alipay handles consumer payments. WorldFirst handles cross-border business payments.
150,000+ Chinese suppliers are on the WorldFirst network. Direct connection to Alipay infrastructure.
Follow WorldFirst for more on doing business with China.
'If the money doesn't move right, nothing else moves.'
Tay St Louis, founder of Trendsetter, on the part of sourcing in China that no one talks about. Paying multiple suppliers in multiple currencies while running samples on a deadline.
Hold GBP, CNY, USD in one account. Pay suppliers in CNY directly, mostly same-day. Convert when the rate's good, not when you're forced to.
Trips like this are where brands get made or broken. The money side shouldn't be what holds you up.
Follow WorldFirst.
22/05/2026
Over 30 financial institutions. Nearly 100 partners. One room in Kuala Lumpur.
On 20 May, we held Financial Partners Day, the event we bring our partners together for twice a year to share how far WorldFirst has come and where we are going next.
This year, our family grew. We were especially glad to welcome more local and regional banks into it, alongside the global institutions who have long been part of WorldFirst. Every one of these partners makes the family stronger. The closer we work with banks across this region, the better we can serve Southeast Asia and beyond, a commitment we are deepening, with more to come.
What brought everyone together is a simple idea. The infrastructure our partners helped us build, on their trust and their support, is infrastructure we now want to place back in their hands. Through WorldFirst for Enterprise, partners can complement what they already offer and support their enterprise customers growing globally. Through WorldFirst Personal, they can give individual customers a smoother way to move money across borders, including straight to a wallet.
From a partner to a customer. A relationship that began with their trust, and now reaches into everything we can build together.
Thank you to Maybank, HSBC, Citi, JPM, Mastercard, Barclays, OCBC, SMBC, SCB, BOCHK, ICBC, Santander, Hecto, VISA, BNPP, DB, Yes Bank, Banking Circle, DBS, MBSB, Mandiri, BRI, BNI and Fosun Wealth, and congratulations to our awardees.
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