Every transaction is traceable from start to finish, with a clear digital audit trail.
For decades, the movement of money across borders has been one of commerce's quiet burdens — slow, opaque, and riddled with hidden costs. Lianlian DigiTech, a Chinese fintech firm, has now received formal recognition from the HKMA/HKT Global Innovation Awards for its LGPS platform, which attempts to rewire that aging infrastructure through a single API connecting over 100 countries. The award signals not merely a corporate milestone, but a broader reckoning with how global trade might finally move at the speed of the digital economy.
- Cross-border payments have long trapped businesses in a maze of intermediary banks, unpredictable delays, and fees buried in fine print — a structural failure that LGPS was built to dismantle.
- By routing transactions through a unified corridor rather than a chain of correspondent banks, LGPS achieves real-time settlement in many cases, with funds landing in Chinese yuan and ready for immediate use.
- The platform's 68 global payment licenses and AI-embedded compliance systems give it a rare combination of regulatory legitimacy and technological agility across 140+ currencies.
- Major partners like Thunes and 12 Victory have already integrated with the platform, providing real-world proof that the infrastructure holds under diverse and demanding conditions.
- Lianlian DigiTech is now pushing deeper into AI-native capabilities and bank partnerships, aiming to build what it envisions as a fully intelligent, end-to-end payment ecosystem for global trade.
Lianlian DigiTech, a Chinese fintech company specializing in cross-border payments, has won the Best in Fintech Innovation Award at the HKMA/HKT Global Innovation Awards for 2025-26. The honor recognizes its proprietary LGPS platform — the Lianlian Global Payout Service — which was designed to address a problem that has long frustrated international commerce: the slowness, cost, and opacity of moving money across borders.
Traditional wire transfers route through multiple intermediary banks, each adding fees and delays. For businesses handling high volumes of cross-border transactions — e-commerce sellers, foreign trade companies, remittance services — this infrastructure has been fundamentally inadequate. LGPS responds by connecting global payment networks with localized clearing systems in over 100 countries through a single standardized API, enabling banks and payment providers to access both Chinese and international infrastructure from one point of entry.
The platform supports a wide range of payment scenarios — B2B trade settlements, merchant collections, supplier payouts, personal remittances — and achieves real-time settlement in many cases by reducing the number of intermediaries in each transaction chain. Compliance is embedded throughout: AI-driven anti-money laundering and fraud detection systems monitor every transaction, while real-time reporting and full traceability eliminate the guesswork that has long defined cross-border finance.
The company's footprint is considerable — 10.4 million merchants served, operations in over 100 countries, and settlements across 140+ currencies. Partners including Thunes and 12 Victory have already integrated with the platform, validating its reliability across diverse markets. Lianlian DigiTech frames the award as confirmation of its 'AI Native + Global' vision, and plans to deepen bank partnerships and expand intelligent capabilities as it works toward a fully integrated digital payment ecosystem for global trade.
Lianlian DigiTech, a Chinese fintech company built around cross-border payments, has won the Best in Fintech Innovation Award at the HKMA/HKT Global Innovation Awards for 2025-26. The recognition came for its proprietary platform, LGPS—the Lianlian Global Payout Service—which the company designed to solve a problem that has plagued international commerce for decades: the slowness, opacity, and cost of moving money across borders.
Traditional bank wire transfers remain cumbersome. They route through multiple intermediary banks, each adding fees and delays. The process is manual, the fees are hidden, and the timeline is unpredictable. For businesses moving high volumes of small payments—cross-border e-commerce sellers, foreign trade companies, remittance services—this infrastructure is fundamentally broken. LGPS attempts to fix it by creating a unified payment corridor between China and international markets. Through a single standardized API, the platform connects global payment networks with localized clearing systems in over 100 countries, allowing banks and payment service providers to access both Chinese and international payment infrastructure from one place.
The platform handles multiple payment scenarios within a single system: business-to-business trade settlements, e-commerce merchant collections, supplier payouts, personal remittances, and marketplace fund disbursements. What distinguishes LGPS is its speed. By reducing the number of intermediary banks in any given transaction, the platform achieves real-time settlement in many cases, with funds deposited directly in Chinese yuan and ready for immediate use. The cost structure is flatter and more transparent than traditional banking channels.
Compliance and security are built into the architecture. Lianlian DigiTech holds 68 payment licenses across the globe and has embedded proprietary AI-driven systems for anti-money laundering and fraud detection into LGPS. Every transaction is monitored, traceable, and auditable from initiation to completion. The platform provides real-time balance inquiries, automated reporting, and full visibility into transaction status—eliminating the guesswork that has long characterized cross-border payments. Financial institutions and merchants can reconcile accounts with confidence.
The company's reach is substantial. It operates in more than 100 countries and regions, settles transactions in over 140 currencies, and serves 10.4 million merchants and businesses. Major international players have already integrated with LGPS: Thunes, a global B2B payments infrastructure platform, and 12 Victory, a cross-border remittance service, are among the early partners. These real-world deployments have validated the platform's reliability and technological edge across diverse markets.
Lianlian DigiTech frames this award as validation of its broader "AI Native + Global" vision—the idea that artificial intelligence, blockchain, and other emerging technologies should be embedded into every stage of cross-border fund flows. The company is positioning itself as a bridge between Chinese businesses and global commercial opportunities, working with major banks, card networks, and e-commerce platforms to build what it calls an open, collaborative, and globally integrated digital payment ecosystem.
Looking forward, the company plans to expand its AI-native capabilities and deepen partnerships with banks and financial institutions worldwide. The goal is an end-to-end, fully intelligent payment platform designed to streamline cross-border transactions and accelerate the digital economy. For businesses that move money internationally, the stakes are real: faster settlement, lower costs, and transparent compliance could reshape how global trade actually works.
Citas Notables
Traditional bank wire transfers with their manual processes, layered intermediary banks, opaque fees, and slow review cycles are increasingly ill-suited for today's high-volume, low-value, and fragmented trade flows.— Lianlian DigiTech, describing the problem LGPS solves
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does this award matter? It's a fintech company winning a fintech award—isn't that expected?
The award validates something specific: that LGPS actually works at scale. Lianlian already serves 10.4 million merchants. The recognition from HKMA and HKT signals that major institutions believe this approach—using AI and localized clearing systems instead of traditional bank chains—is the future.
What's the actual problem LGPS solves that banks haven't solved?
Banks still route international payments through multiple intermediaries, each adding fees and time. A small business sending money to a supplier in China might wait days and lose 3-5% to fees. LGPS cuts the intermediaries and settles in hours or minutes. The transparency is also new—you can see exactly where your money is at any moment.
You mentioned 68 payment licenses. That's a lot. What does that actually mean?
It means Lianlian is legally authorized to move money in 68 different jurisdictions. Each country has its own rules. Having that many licenses means the company has navigated regulatory frameworks globally—it's not a startup, it's an established player with deep compliance infrastructure.
The source mentions "AI-native" repeatedly. What does that actually do in a payment system?
It automates fraud detection and money laundering checks in real time. Instead of a human reviewing transactions, AI flags suspicious patterns instantly. It also means the system learns—it gets better at spotting fraud the more transactions it processes. That's different from traditional banking, where compliance is often manual and slow.
Who actually uses this? Is it for consumers or businesses?
Primarily businesses. E-commerce sellers, foreign trade companies, remittance services. A seller on Amazon in the U.S. who sources from China uses this. A remittance service sending money from overseas back to families in China uses this. It's infrastructure, not a consumer app.
What's the competitive threat here? Are traditional banks losing business?
Not yet at scale, but potentially. Banks make money on the fees and the float—the time money sits in transit. LGPS eliminates both. If it becomes the standard for cross-border B2B payments, traditional banking corridors lose volume. That's why partnerships with major banks matter—they're hedging by integrating with LGPS rather than competing against it.