Thunes enables FIs, PSPs, and money transfer operators to route instant cross-border consumer payouts to UnionPay cards in China’s mainland
Deepened strategic alliance between Thunes and UnionPay International unlocks instant payouts to UnionPay cards covering 79 major Chinese banks and up to $10,000 USD daily limits.
Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, today announced a deepening of its strategic alliance with UnionPay International (UPI), transforming cross-border money movement into China’s mainland with bank-grade security and expansive operational scale.
“Through this collaboration, Thunes enables Financial Institutions, Payment Service Providers, and Money Transfer Operators to route instant cross-border consumer payouts to UnionPay cards in China’s mainland. With a strategic reach that spans countries worldwide, key expansion corridors include Africa, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, and the USA.” – according to the press release.
The direct connection will result in streamlined access to a massive base of UnionPay cardholders across 79 major Chinese banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of Communications (BOCOM), China Merchants Bank (CMB).
Cross-border remittances into China’s mainland have historically been constrained by low daily transaction caps, forcing senders to split larger personal transfers across multiple days or endure complex manual processing. By integrating UnionPay International’s increased daily payment limit directly into its payout rails, Thunes bridges this critical market gap. Network Members can now process real-time, compliant transfers of up to $10,000 USD per recipient cardholder, empowering businesses to send larger volumes, and consumers to send substantial family support onto UnionPay cards in a single daily transaction, eliminating operational friction and settlement delays.
As an officially recognised strategic partner to UnionPay International, Thunes provides a fully compliant, bank-grade route for Pay-to-Card services into China’s mainland that eliminates system outage risks, unauthorized routing, and service disruptions.
The collaboration connects Thunes’ Direct Global Network to UPI International through a single API, so Thunes’ Members gain immediate, high-capacity reach into China’s card ecosystem without high setup costs, strict eligibility hurdles, or ongoing technical maintenance.
“Strengthening our strategic alignment with UnionPay International marks a major evolution in how money moves globally. By enabling high-capacity, direct-to-card payouts into China’s mainland, we are breaking down legacy barriers in one of the world’s most dynamic payment corridors. Unlocking these higher transaction limits supports the growth of our Members, empowering financial institutions everywhere to scale their cross-border flows into China with unmatched speed and compliance.” – said Chloé Mayenobe, Deputy CEO at Thunes.
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Thunes is the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world. Thunes’ proprietary Direct Global Network allows Members to make payments in real-time in over 140 countries and more than 90 currencies. Thunes’ Network connects directly to over 12 billion mobile wallets, stablecoin wallets and bank accounts worldwide, as well as 15 billion cards via more than 220 different payment methods, such as GCash, M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN, Orange, JazzCash, Easypaisa, AliPay, WeChat Pay HK and many more. Thunes’ Direct Global Network differentiates itself through its worldwide reach, in-house SmartX Treasury System and Fortress Compliance Platform, ensuring Members of the Network receive unrivaled speed, control, visibility, protection, and cost efficiencies when making real-time payments, globally. Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network include gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo, super-apps like Grab and WeChat, MTOs, fintechs, PSPs and banks. Headquartered in Singapore, Thunes has offices in 14 locations, including Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Nairobi, New York, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco and Shanghai.
