Thunes and Ecobank Group have initiated a partnership aimed at facilitating instant cross-border payments for businesses and people throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through the partnership, banking and fintech systems will be integrated on a broad scale, designed to simplify the process of sending, receiving, and managing funds across international borders.
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The joint initiative will be introduced gradually across all 32 countries where Ecobank operates, with implementation tailored to comply with specific local regulatory frameworks.
The rollout is set to link Ecobank’s customer base with Thunes’ Direct Global Network, which currently extends to more than 130 nations and supports connections to multiple mobile wallets and bank accounts.
With Ecobank’s regional reach combined with Thunes’ international payment network, the initiative aims to enable entrepreneurs and communities across Africa to engage in the digital economy.
Ecobank Group CEO Jeremy Awori said: “By combining our robust banking infrastructure with Thunes’ fintech innovation and trusted Direct Global Network, we’re expanding real-time financial access for millions and driving the growth of Africa’s digital economy.”
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By GlobalDataTogo is the first market to launch services under this new arrangement. Customers of Ecobank there now have access to instant payments from global remittance providers.
Thunes CEO and co-founder Peter De Caluwe said: “This collaboration marks a major development in how we power payments across Africa. Thunes’ solutions and Ecobank’s reach are a perfect match: together we’re delivering faster, more reliable access to liquidity and creating new pathways for growth across Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The result is a live, large-scale solution that’s transforming how money moves across the continent. This represents a key milestone in our mission to enable the next billion end users to take part in the global economy.”
This partnership builds on a memorandum of understanding reached last year between Ecobank and Thunes’ holding company, TransferTo.
The initial agreement outlined a goal to improve access to financial services and reshape the landscape for cross-border payments across the continent.
Thunes recently started offering real-time cross-border payment services in Colombia, utilising Bre-B, the new instant payment infrastructure developed by Banco de la República.
