TrueMoney, a Southeast Asian Fintech firm, has teamed up with Singapore-based Thunes, a cross-border payment company, in order to expand its remittance services. Through the partnership, TrueMoney customers will be able to accept remittance payments from anywhere in the world via Thunes’ international partner network, which covers over 100 countries and in 60 different currencies.
Dale Kim, MD of international business at Ascend Money Co., Ltd., the operator of TrueMoney, remarked:
“This [partnership] reinforces our mission to provide innovative financial services to all, leading them to better lives. Together, we will focus on innovation, customer experience and instant remittances.”
Peter De Caluwe, CEO at Thunes, stated:
“This [partnership] is aligned with our objective of providing new payment options for our global partners and widen and deepen financial inclusion in Southeast Asia. Our advanced technological capabilities streamline the process of cross-border money transfer, thus resulting in greater speed and operational efficiencies for our partners.”
As mentioned in a release, Myanmar will be the first nation to take advantage of this new partnership. It will allow all sending partners of Thunes to gain access to TrueMoney’s agent network, which is available throughout the Southeast Asia region.
A Burmese resident living and working in the U.S., for example, will be able to send money “reliably, conveniently and quickly” to any TrueMoney cash pick-up location located in Myanmar. The money received will be “instantly” converted from US dollars to Myanmar Kyats.
Before this recent partnership with Thunes, TrueMoney’s remittance service had only been accessible in just a few markets through its TrueMoney mobile wallet, or via TrueMoney cash pick-up agents. The partnership now allows all sending partners of Thunes to access Truemoney’s agent network.
Thunes has more than 400 partnerships, internationally. It reportedly has the largest partner network in emerging markets. The firm’s partners include Western Union, Ria Money Transfer, Remitly and several other financial service providers.
Fintech Ripple Southeast Asia Head Kelvin Lee recently explained how cross-border payments are being effectively processed in the region with PayID.
In other Asian countries, like Pakistan, the world’s most valuable Fintech Ant Financial will be powering the nation’s new blockchain-based payments service.
In other parts of the world, like Mexico, digital asset exchange Bitso aims to capture 20% of the remittance market from payments coming from the US.
