Absa Group, one of Africa’s leading financial services institutions, has introduced a new remittance service powered by Thunes, marking a fresh push to make cross-border money transfers faster, more transparent, and more accessible for customers across key corridors.
The launch reflects growing demand for reliable international payments across Africa, where remittances remain a vital source of household income and an important driver of local consumption and small-business activity. By partnering with Thunes, Absa is positioning the service to benefit from a global payments network designed to connect banks, mobile wallets, and payment systems across multiple markets.
While Absa has not disclosed full rollout timelines or corridor coverage in its initial announcement, the move signals a broader industry trend: financial institutions are increasingly collaborating with payments infrastructure providers to modernize remittance experiences, reduce friction, and improve end-to-end visibility for senders and recipients.
Why it matters
Remittances play an outsized role in many African economies, but traditional transfer methods can be slowed by intermediary banking processes, limited payout options, and uneven cost structures. New infrastructure-led models aim to address these challenges by expanding payout reach and enabling more seamless settlement.
For Absa, the Thunes-powered service is expected to support a more integrated remittance proposition—particularly relevant for customers who need dependable transfers for family support, education, healthcare, and cross-border trade.
Absa Group is a diversified financial services provider operating across Africa, offering personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and insurance solutions. The group serves retail and institutional clients across multiple African markets.
Thunes is a global payments infrastructure provider that enables cross-border payments through a network connecting banks, mobile wallets, and payment systems. The company focuses on helping financial institutions and enterprises move money internationally with improved speed, reach, and transparency.
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