Thunes, the global B2B payment infrastructure platform, and China Construction Bank (CCB), a commercial bank in China, have announced partnership to collaborate on cross-border payments.
With the new relationship, Thunes will support the bank “to enable international payment acceptance for Chinese small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and introduce outbound cross-border payments for CCB’s consumers, with both products expected to be launched in 2024.”
Peter De Caluwe, CEO, Thunes says:
“Financial Institutions like China Construction Bank play an increasingly vital role in providing financial services in China and beyond. Our collaboration with CCB will help the bank better support their customers by working interoperably across currencies and borders.”
In June 2023, Thunes inaugurated its Beijing office and “deepened its commitment to empower Chinese businesses and consumers with faster and more affordable transactions with key international markets.”
As noted n the update, China Construction Bank, “headquartered in Beijing, is a leading large-scale commercial bank in China.”
The Bank provides customers “with comprehensive financial services, including corporate finance business, personal finance business and treasury and asset management business.”
With 14,356 banking outlets and 352,588 staff members, the Bank “serves 739 million personal and 9.35 million corporate customers.”
The Bank has subsidiaries “in various sectors, including fund management, financial leasing, trust, insurance, futures, pension and investment banking, with 24,094 staff members, and has nearly 200 overseas entities covering 31 countries and regions.”
Thunes is a B2B payments company “building global infrastructure for the 21st century by enabling seamless, instant and transparent money movement. Its modular capabilities empower its customers to Pay, Accept, Exchange and Comply, closing the gap between payment systems in developed and emerging markets worldwide.”
Thunes facilitates payments “in 80 currencies across 133 countries, using over 300 payment methods.”
The company supports businesses, “from gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo to the super-app Grab to global fintech leaders like PayPal, Remitly, Finastra and Revolut.”
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Singapore, Thunes “has offices in 20 locations, including Beijing, Nairobi, London, Paris, Dubai and Barcelona.”
The company has “raised over $200m to date, with the latest round being Series C in July 2023. Its investors include GGV Capital, Helios Investment Partners, Insight Partners, Marshall Wace, Bessemer Venture Partners, Visa, 01Fintech, EDBI, Future Shape, Checkout.com, and Endeavor Catalyst.”