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Jack Ma’s Open Banking Strategy Gets a Boost From Lockdown

  • Customer paying for Ant’s bank tech services jumps 175%
  • 800 bank outlets shuttered operations due to virus outbreak
Jack Ma

Jack Ma

Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg
Updated on

Billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Services Group saw a surge in Chinese banks seeking out its digital technology to keep business flowing after the coronavirus outbreak shuttered branches across the world’s most populous nation.

The number of customers paying for Ant to help them build mobile apps and provide cloud computing power jumped by 175% in the two months through April, and it’s now working with more than 200 lenders, according to the company. Inquiries to collaborate with the tech giant increased by 400% over the period.