Malaysian investment bank CIMB Group and Singapore-based fintech Ant International, a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s Ant Group, have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly explore innovations in cross-border payments and treasury and liquidity management solutions.

The comprehensive partnership, the companies say, will see the bank collaborating with the fintech’s key businesses, including Alipay+, Antom and Bettr Treasury, across the bank’s integrated capabilities in cash management, treasury and markets solutions, credit and financing facilities, capital markets activities and sustainability-related initiatives.

Under the agreement, the bank and fintech will also jointly develop a digital framework to enhance the treasury and liquidity operations of both parties, by leveraging the fintech’s next-generation blockchain-based treasury management solution.

The framework, the companies point out, aims to strengthen capital efficiency, transparency and cross-border liquidity optimisation, reinforcing the resilience and competitiveness of both sides’ regional financial ecosystems to better serve its customers in Malaysia.

The agreement, the two parties note, reflects both parties’ shared ambition to advance responsible digital innovation while maintaining strong governance. Both companies will advance the development of the framework with a focus on scalable and practical implementation that supports evolving institutional treasury needs across the region.

This initiative further reinforces the bank’s commitment, it shares, to advancing customers and society by strengthening digital financial infrastructure through tokenization, building on its recently announced participation in Bank Negara Malaysia’s Digital Assets Innovation Hub and its broader Forward30 digital transformation agenda.

“The partnership marks a milestone in our Forward30 strategy, where innovation is embedded into the core of how we operate and compete,” says Novan Amirudin, the bank’s group CEO. “Our collaboration with Ant International enables us to accelerate the institutional adoption of distributed ledger technology within the treasury ecosystem.

“This positions CIMB at the forefront of building scalable, future ready digital financial infrastructure innovation across Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], while strengthening our ability to deliver greater efficiency, transparency and cross-border connectivity for our clients.”

Douglas Feagin, the fintech’s president, adds: “By combining our strengths, we will scale the institutional adoption of tokenization – a key pillar of next-generation financial infrastructure – to create a more efficient and inclusive financial ecosystem for businesses in Malaysia.”