How Wanlihui Enables AI Companies to Master Global Payments and Capital Management

AI enterprises expanding globally encounter payment scenarios that differ sharply from traditional e‑commerce, such as token‑based billing, autonomous agent payments, and worldwide subscriptions, which demand a new payment infrastructure.

Market Context

There are over 171,000 AI companies worldwide, including 46,200 startups. The market is projected to exceed $900 billion, growing at 18.7% YoY, and Gartner forecasts total AI spending to reach $2.52 trillion, surpassing many countries' GDP.

Core Pain Points for AI Companies

Global collection : Too many channels, high integration cost.

Fund management : Received money is scattered across regions, making aggregation difficult.

Cross‑border payouts : Long chains, high costs, slow settlement.

Compliance adds further burden, as each country has its own licensing, AML, and data‑privacy rules, often costing millions of dollars and years to satisfy.

Wanlihui Overview

Wanlihui (WorldFirst) is Ant International’s cross‑border trade payment and account service brand, the core provider of Ant International’s global account service. Established in London in 2004, it reached £100 million transaction volume within its first year. By the end of 2025 it had served over 1.5 million cross‑border enterprises with cumulative transactions exceeding $5 trillion.

It holds more than 70 payment licences, covering 210 countries and regions, and supports 300+ local payment methods, 100+ currencies, and 210+ consumer markets.

Full‑Stack Solution

Wanlihui’s platform connects the entire “collect‑manage‑pay‑control” chain:

Global collection : API integration enables access to 300+ local payment methods and 100+ currencies, allowing a single integration to handle worldwide payments.

Multi‑currency enterprise accounts : Supports 32 currencies (including 25 local settlement currencies) with T+1 activation, unified portal/API for real‑time balance, transaction, and account visibility.

Cross‑border payouts : Global batch payment supports 103 outbound currencies and 200+ destinations, often achieving same‑day settlement by routing through local clearing networks instead of SWIFT.

VCC virtual cards : Programmable virtual credit cards with per‑card limits, merchant restrictions, and instant destruction after use, isolating agent spending from the main corporate account.

FX management : World FX offers 24/7 real‑time exchange rates and forward‑lock tools; Ant International’s Falcon AI model (100 billion parameters) predicts liquidity with >90% hourly accuracy, reducing FX costs up to 60%.

Embedded finance : White‑label payment capabilities let AI platforms brand the service as their own while leveraging Wanlihui’s infrastructure.

Use‑Case Scenarios

AI hardware & SaaS exporters can consolidate global revenue into a single account pool and settle with distributors via batch payments, using Falcon for optimal FX conversion.

API‑based AI model providers benefit from token‑or‑call‑based billing, localized payment methods, and unified multi‑currency accounts for streamlined reconciliation.

GPU/cloud resource providers manage large B2B pre‑pay and monthly billing cycles with unified accounts and batch payouts to suppliers.

AI Agent platforms secure agent spending with isolated VCC cards, setting per‑card limits and merchant restrictions to prevent fund exposure.

Strategic Insight

Because AI businesses scale faster than any traditional industry, a payment foundation that can grow with them becomes a competitive moat. Wanlihui’s ecosystem—combining global accounts, Alipay+, Antom, and Bettr—covers the entire payment stack from B‑to‑C, from channel to protocol, making it a “first‑tier” solution for AI enterprises.

In the emerging era of “Agent payments,” where AI autonomously decides and executes transactions, the speed, cost, and compliance of the underlying payment infrastructure will determine an AI company’s ability to survive and expand globally.