Singapore-based cross-border payments company Thunes has announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Visa , intending to allow new endpoints in Asia and Africa. As per the information detailed in the press release, by expanding their collaboration, Thunes and Visa intend to enable additional endpoints in key markets across Asia and Africa.

Initially, the two companies partnered in October 2022 to support individuals and small businesses move money internationally to 78 digital wallet providers, reaching 1.5 billion digital wallets across 44 countries and territories. At that time, the collaboration was set to increase Visa Direct’s reach to nearly 7 billion endpoints, including more than 3 billion cards, over 2 billion accounts, and 1.5 billion digital wallets. Thunes and Visa’s development strategy Through this expanded strategic partnership, Visa aims to leverage Thunes’ network to send payments to over 108 digital wallet types and bank accounts in countries located in Africa and Asia, including Kenya, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Pakistan.

Additionally, Thunes is set to implement Visa Direct’s push-to-card capability, to allow payouts made to eligible Visa cards and accounts across more than 190 countries and territories. Based on its findings that report that the global money movement flows are projected to reach USD 200 trillion, the company extended its collaboration with Thunes to deliver payouts to digital wallets and bank accounts as a core part of its development strategy. Furthermore, considering that digital wallets have seen a surge in popularity, an increasing number of banks, including CIBC in Canada, work with Visa to integrate cross-border payout capabilities into digital wallets.

Financial institutions tend to see mobile wallet interoperability as an important component for optimising payments for their consumer and business customers. According to Visa’s officials, the company aims to develop the infrastructure to allow its partners to move money from any endpoint efficiently. By joining forces with Thunes, Visa focuses on broadening the payment ecosystem by connecting to bank accounts, cards, and wallets, thus providing more simplified payout capabilities to joint clients.

Representatives from Thunes underlined that the partnership with Visa enables the two companies to engage with each other's networks and payment methods as the sector continues to digitise. Thunes’ work with Visa aims to enable additional payment flows that support B2B cross-border payments at scale. Currently, the company facilitate payments in 84 currencies across 133 countries, leveraging over 550 payment methods, including 129 mobile wallets such as PayPal, M Pesa, and Orange Money, gig economy organisations like Uber and Deliveroo, and super-apps such as Grab and WeChat.

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