Tencent & Alibaba chase remittances in battle for South-East Asia

We Remit volunteer Jona de Cuia shows an online remittance coupon displayed on a smartphone at the financial Central district in Hong Kong, China September 2, 2018. Picture taken September 2, 2018. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

JAKARTA/HONG KONG: For Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, South-East Asian domestic helpers in Hong Kong may prove key to their global ambitions in financial services.

Both companies recently launched money-transfer services that allow Hong Kong-based workers from Indonesia and the Philippines to send money home cheaply and easily. The moves are a first step in going after a global remittance business that moves more than US$600bil (RM2.48tril) around the world annually.