Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of Alibaba Group, has agreed to make a strategic investment in Ascend Money, the online-payments arm of Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group.

The two companies did not reveal the investment details.

The deal will help Ascend Money grow its digital and offline payments and financial services business in Thailand, while Ant Financial will be able to expand its online payments and small loans business in Southeast Asia.

Bangkok-based Ascend operates under the TrueMoney brand for payments and Ascend Nano for lending. The company operates in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.

In September 2015, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Ant Financial made a strategic investment in Indian mobile payment and e-commerce firm Paytm, which is run by One 97 Communications.

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