Visa partners with Thunes to expand Visa Direct’s reach
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) is partnering with Thunes to help individuals and small businesses move money internationally to 78 digital wallet providers, reaching 1.5 billion digital wallets across 44 countries and territories.
For the unbanked individuals in emerging markets, digital wallets are gaining traction as an empowering first entry point to the financial system. Consumers are not required to have a card or account to load or receive funds directly to their digital wallet, opening the potential for greater financial inclusion and enabling underserved populations opportunities to access financial products that meaningfully impact how they live and work.
Through this collaboration, Thunes’ B2B payments platform will connect to Visa Direct, adding a cross-border send-to-wallet capability to 78 digital wallet providers that are already integrated with Thunes. Through a simple integration of Visa Direct, financial institutions, governments, neobanks and money transfer operators will be able to utilize the new functionality to enable consumers and small businesses to send funds to markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America where wallets may be the go-to payment method.
“We are thrilled that of all the payment companies, Visa, a global leader in payments, is working with Thunes on this launch,” said Peter De Caluwe, CEO of Thunes.“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.”