Visa and Thunes, a provider of international money transfer services, have announced a partnership to facilitate international money transfers to 78 digital wallet providers, allowing access to 1.5 billion digital wallets in 44 countries and territories. Previously, Visa Direct could only reach about 3 billion endpoints, but thanks to this new alliance, it will be able to reach over 2 billion accounts and 1.5 billion digital wallets.
Digital wallets are becoming more and more popular as a way for people in emerging markets who don’t have a bank account to get their first step into the financial system. Digital wallets make it possible for people to send and receive money without a bank account or credit card. This can help more people become financially included and give underserved groups access to financial products that can make a big difference in their daily lives.
“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,” said Ruben Salazar Genovez, Global Head of Visa Direct. “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.”
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.
Thunes is thrilled that of all the payment companies, Visa, the global leader in payments, is working with Thunes on this launch,” said Peter De Caluwe, CEO of Thunes.” “By combining the size of Visa and the payment infrastructure of Thunes, this partnership could help usher in a new era of global payments that are easy for everyone to use.”
Visa Direct now gives access to nearly 7 billion cards, accounts, and digital wallets across more than 190 countries, 160 currencies, 16 card-based networks, 66 domestic Automated Clearing House (ACH) schemes, 11 Real-Time Payment (RTP) networks, and five payment gateways. This is thanks to the addition of 1.5 billion digital wallets.
