"Since its establishment, Ant Financial has focused on serving the public and small and micro enterprises, allowing them to feel the warmth of inclusive finance and bringing equal opportunities to the world. This is our biggest motivation for moving forward."
In the field of inclusive finance, we have made new breakthroughs.
On June 25, the world’s first blockchain-based e-wallet cross-border remittance service was launched in Hong Kong. Users of the Hong Kong version of Alipay can send money to the Philippine wallet Gcash through blockchain technology.
Grace, a Filipino maid who has been working in Hong Kong for 22 years, completed her first remittance at a press conference. That afternoon, she wired 10,000 pesos to her friend in Manila, and it arrived in her account in three seconds.
The goodwill behind ten thousand pesos
On this day, I witnessed history with her. After the press conference, she lamented to me many times: Alipay’s new technology has helped me a lot. Sending money has never been easier!
Grace also told me that she remits money to her family twice a month, and every weekend she has to run from Kowloon to the Global Center in Central to queue up. Once the funds are sent, it usually takes anywhere from 10 minutes to a few days to arrive. ; If something goes wrong in the middle, the refund will take longer. I heard that the longest remittance took half a year on the road.
There are nearly 200,000 Filipinos like Grace living and working in Hong Kong. They come from more than 7,000 islands in the Philippines. There are still many people on these islands who do not have access to convenient financial services because it is difficult to imagine a bank on every island.
Today, with the support of Alipay blockchain technology and hand in hand with Gcash, Standard Chartered Bank is responsible for end-of-day fund settlement and foreign exchange exchange. For Hong Kong users, sending money to the Philippines is as easy as domestic transfers. Real-time payment, 24/7, save money and trouble, safe and transparent.
Moreover, after receiving the money, Filipino users can directly use their mobile phones to make payments, recharges, shopping, etc. in daily life without going to branches.
Draw a red line for Ant Blockchain
At today's press conference, on behalf of all Ant people, I solemnly convey a promise to the outside world, that is, to delineate "three dos and three no's" for the Ant blockchain.
The “Three Dos” are: first, use blockchain to solve practical problems of social value and make finance and business more transparent and efficient due to trust; second, continue to overcome the technical barriers that prevent blockchain from moving towards large-scale practical application; third, Work with partners to build an open blockchain ecosystem.
At the same time, no matter now or in the future, we will never touch: "air coins" that have no actual value; we will not make technical applications that violate laws and regulations; we will not do anything that harms the security and privacy of user data.
Blockchain is more than just issuing coins
Why do we make such a definition?
As a financial technology company, we firmly believe that technology should drive financial development and stimulate financial goodwill. While embracing technology to the greatest extent, we also often think about the so-called technology without good or evil, and human nature has choices. Therefore, what technical values should we uphold? , mission and dreams, even beyond the technology itself.
Because only the guidance of our mission can ensure that we make the right choices and ensure that technological innovation and application do not deviate from our original aspirations.
Specific to blockchain, this has been the hottest area of the global Internet in the past year. We see a series of concepts emerging one after another. The prices of various currencies rise and fall. Everyone believes that ICO and blockchain have made "creation" happen one after another. "The myth of wealth", but the other side of the coin is the "leeks" that are being cut one after another.
However, for blockchain, Ant has been fascinated by its solution to real-life pain points and its value to the future of the digital economy from the beginning.
We all know that trust is the foundation of any value transfer, transaction, storage and payment in the world. Without trust, humans would be unable to complete any value exchange.
Alipay was born to solve the problem of user payment trust. As human society becomes increasingly digital, blockchain technology uses digital algorithms to establish trust relationships between transaction parties. This is the most important way to “solve trust” in the coming digital era. The ideal technical solution.
The essential difference between the digital world and the physical world is that things in the physical world are real and do not appear or disappear out of thin air. But the digital world is different. Data can be deleted, altered or copied without leaving any trace. These are two different worlds.
Blockchain technology can make the digital world as real and trustworthy as the physical world. Based on trusted digital records on the blockchain, which cannot be tampered with or forged, data integrity, authenticity and consistency are achieved. Smart contracts also allow everyone to collaborate more efficiently than ever before, thereby establishing trustworthy and secure digital economic rules and order.
We believe that after entering the digital age, when the trust problem is solved by "eliminating trust intermediate processes", the efficiency of finance and business will be unprecedentedly improved, and costs will be further reduced. This is the major trend in the future era of Internet of Everything.
Therefore, we determined from the beginning that blockchain is not just about issuing coins, but has broader and grander applications. This is why Ant is optimistic about the “value” of blockchain technology.
Therefore, around the word "trust", the Ant Blockchain team has made many seemingly "clumsy attempts" in the past two years.
In March 2017, Alipay’s charitable donation platform fully introduced blockchain technology to make every charitable donation traceable and complete the credibility of the data; in August, Xinmei Life Mutual Insurance Co., Ltd. launched the first love rescue in the domestic insurance industry This account is also the first mutual insurance in China to use blockchain technology for bookkeeping, making the whereabouts of every fund transparent and ensuring trustworthy funds; In November, the blockchain technology independently developed by Ant Financial was used for the first time in In terms of food safety and authenticity traceability, we start with the traceability of imported milk powder, so that every sip of milk powder your baby takes is authentic. .
These attempts have clear paths. The first is to use blockchain to solve the credibility of data records; secondly, to use blockchain technology to achieve object credibility, that is, to credibly register and record the existence and traceability of objects in physical space. sex. In 2017, it was mainly used in product traceability and leasing scenarios. In this step, in addition to the authenticity and credibility of the data, it is also necessary to solve the reliable mapping between the existence of the physical space and the records of the digital space; Next, as the application of blockchain technology gradually matures, we can explore the realization of assets in the financial field. manage. The value of technology for trusted registries, transactions, and inter-institutional collaboration. Behind these projects are all aimed at solving the common people's biggest problems of lack of security and trust.
Of course, behind these breakthroughs, Ant’s technical capabilities are also constantly accumulating. By early 2018, it was discovered that Ant Financial had become the company that applied for the most blockchain patents in the world in 2017.
"Technology Warmth" leads us forward
And until yesterday, along the lines of solving the "trust" problem and creating actual social value, we had new explorations in practical applications.
Yesterday, when Grace’s 10,000 pesos arrived in Manila, there was joy within Ant Group because it once again confirmed our value and original intention. Technology is something that every ordinary person can see, touch, and use. Yes, technology can also make finance more inclusive, transparent, simple, safe and trustworthy.
What makes us even more happy is that in the 14 years since Alipay was founded, we have continued to create and witness moments like this. What I want to change the world is not just technology, but also the values, dreams and mission behind technology.
If someone asks me now, as a technology company, what is the technical value of Ant?
I think the word "warmth" can sum up the 14 years of development, focusing on serving the general public and small and micro enterprises, letting them feel the warmth of inclusive finance, helping them solve problems, and bringing equal opportunities to the world. This is the biggest driving force that leads us forward.
This article was written by Jing Xiandong, Chairman and CEO of Ant Financial, and was first published on the FT Chinese website. The joint article is authorized by FT Chinese and Ant Financial.
"2018 Blockchain Star" Selection
Lianwen cooperates with authoritative research institutions and industry media to jointly search for the most promising blockchain projects on the Internet.
Scan the QR code to call and vote for your No.1
Lianwen
Buy based on rumors and sell based on news.
Buy based on rumors and sell based on news.
标签： #Jing Xiandong #Blockchain #Ant Trading
评论列表