Ant International has received a Payment Institution licence from the Central Bank of Brazil, expanding its local and cross-border payment services.
The approval allows the company to broaden the scope of payment and account services it offers to enterprises, platforms, and SMEs operating in Brazil. The PI licence formalises Ant International's regulatory standing within Brazil's payments framework, which is overseen by the Central Bank of Brazil.
According to Rodrigo Reif, General Manager, Ant International Brazil, the authorisation is expected to support closer collaboration with Brazil's payments ecosystem and financial services industry, as the company looks to provide payment and account services to businesses operating within the country's digital economy.
Additionally, the licence builds on services Ant International already provides in Brazil through Antom, its merchant payment and digitalisation platform. The gateway currently enables merchants in the country to accept PIX, Brazil's instant payment system, alongside credit cards and other alternative payment methods. With the new licence, Ant International said it intends to strengthen both its local and cross-border payment capabilities in the market.
Company scale and service scope
Ant International operates across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, offering cross-border payments and account services, embedded credit and treasury services, and additional FinAI and blockchain-based solutions. The company states that it processes more than 20 million transactions daily, connecting two billion consumer accounts to 150 million merchants globally through its digital payment infrastructure.
The Brazilian licence adds to this international footprint at a time when the country's payments market continues to see growth in instant payment adoption via PIX, alongside rising demand for embedded financial services among merchants and platforms. Recently, in 2026, PIX has expanded to eight countries outside Brazil, including Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, the US, Portugal, Spain, and France.
Implications for the market
For international payment providers, obtaining a PI licence typically permits a more direct operational presence in the local market, reducing reliance on third-party arrangements for certain payment functions.
The move reflects a broader pattern among global payment companies seeking direct regulatory authorisation in Latin American markets, where PIX has become a significant component of the domestic payments landscape since its introduction by the Central Bank of Brazil. For example, the UK-based payments company, Boku, also obtained a PI licence in 2025 and has since begun processing PIX transactions in Brazil.
