BNP Paribas has cemented a strategic alliance with Ant International to bolster cross-border payment solutions throughout Europe. This collaboration was formalized with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Zurich this month.

Under this agreement, the Paris-headquartered financial conglomerate will utilize the services of Alipay+, the cross-border digital payments arm of Ant Group. This will empower merchants using BNP Paribas’ acquiring services across Europe to accept transactions from over 25 international mobile payment partners.

Moreover, BNP Paribas is partnering with Ant International to delve into innovations in tokenized deposits for global treasury management via the Chinese company’s blockchain-driven Whale platform. This joint venture aims to enhance the efficiency and speed of global fund settlements through the use of tokenized deposits.

Ant International intends to harness BNP Paribas’ robust infrastructure to further develop its Whale platform, aiming to improve the efficiency and transparency of fund transfers between bank accounts, thereby enhancing global liquidity management.

Additionally, BNP Paribas has agreed to sponsor UK payments group WorldFirst, acquired by Ant International for $700 million in 2019, for its participation in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) scheme.

According to a company statement, the London-based firm plans to “leverage BNP Paribas’ expertise and products to expedite its integration and onboarding onto SEPA.”