Visa, Thunes Team to Allow X-Border Payments to 78 Digital Wallets

Visa and B2B payments company Thunes have partnered to enable individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) using Visa Direct to move money internationally to 78 digital wallet providers.

With this cross-border, send-to-wallet capability, those users will be able to move money to 1.5 billion digital wallets in 44 countries and territories, the companies said Wednesday (Oct. 19) in a press release.

“From an agricultural worker in Bangladesh to a young professional in London who is looking to send money to family overseas, Visa strives to create more ways for individuals and SMBs to participate in the global economy,” Global Head of Visa Direct Ruben Salazar Genovez said in the release. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Thunes and help enable quick and simple access to the financial system to more customers around the world who may use digital wallets as their primary financial instrument.”

To provide this capability, Thunes’ B2B payments platform will connect to Visa Direct. Financial institutions (FIs), governments, neobanks and money transfer operators will then be able to use the functionality through a simple integration of Visa Direct and allow consumers and SMBs to send funds to markets across Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to the release.

“Through the combined power of Visa’s scale and Thunes’ payment infrastructure, this collaboration has the potential to help develop a new global era for inclusive and accessible global payments,” Thunes CEO Peter De Caluwe said in the release.

The global remittances business is evolving from one based solely on cash-centric networks to a network-of-networks strategy, Salazar told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview posted in December.

Read more: How a Global, Digital Network Can Boost Financial Inclusion

This evolution is making streamlined interactions on a global stage more efficient and less expensive — and boosting financial inclusion in the process, Salazar said.

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