British cross-border payment company WorldFirst recently announced the completion of its ownership change and it becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ant Financial Group.

Jonathan Quin, founder and CEO of WorldFirst, announced the news to customers via an email and he emphasized that WorldFirst's products and services will remain unchanged and the company is looking forward to work together with Alipay to better serve small and micro enterprises around the world.

Ant Financial also released an announcement, stating that Alipay and WorldFirst will team to better serve small and micro enterprises, promote inclusive financial services around the world, and stimulate the sustainable development of global economy. After the acquisition, WorldFirst will continue its business under the leadership of Quin.

So far, WorldFirst has already reached cooperation with Alibaba's Lazada to provide international payment services to vendors in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Meanwhile, WorldFirst's international remittance business will become a structural component of Alibaba's global remittance development.