For many Venezuelan families, the arrival of money from abroad is not a treat. It is how the month gets paid for. Rent, groceries, medicine and school costs often depend on a transfer from a relative overseas or a payment from a client in another country. Yet for years that money has travelled through a patchwork of intermediaries, with delays, fees and uncertainty along the way.
This week, one of the world’s largest cross-border payment networks said it is trying to change that. Singapore-headquartered Thunes announced that it has extended its Direct Global Network into Venezuela, which it describes as one of Latin America’s critical financial corridors. The result is a new route for real-time money movement into a market where speed and reliability matter more than most.
What the expansion actually does
Under the announcement, members of the Thunes network can now send funds to Venezuela through direct channels instead of long chains of correspondent banks. Those members include banks, money transfer operators, payment service providers and gig economy platforms, and they can process compliant, real-time transfers to millions of bank accounts through Crédito Inmediato Interbancario, the local platform built for instant interbank transfers.
The reach is not limited to bank accounts. The company says the corridor also covers mobile wallets and cash pickup locations across the country. That matters because bank accounts are only one way Venezuelans receive money. Digital wallets and cash points are often the practical choice for people who are unbanked, underbanked or simply prefer physical cash.
Venezuelan business press reported the launch in similar terms. Overseas banks and payment gateways connected to the platform can credit funds to Venezuelan financial institutions immediately, with deposits into digital wallets and cash withdrawal counters also enabled. For a family receiving support from abroad, the practical difference is the gap between waiting days for money to arrive and seeing it almost immediately.
Why Venezuela, and why now
Thunes points to the scale of the opportunity. It says diaspora remittances and international transfers are an economic lifeline for roughly 35% of families, local businesses and freelancers who take part in the global digital economy. Remittances to Venezuela in 2025 were estimated at about US$6 billion, around 7% of GDP, with about half coming from the United States.
Those figures describe a country whose economy is closely tied to the people who left it. Millions of Venezuelans now live abroad, many in neighbouring Latin American countries, the United States and Spain. Many send money home regularly. Transfers of this kind do not just top up household budgets. They sustain small shops, pay for healthcare and keep family businesses running.
The route has historically been hard to serve well. Local reporting on the launch notes that regulatory challenges and the risk-control policies of correspondent banks have limited some payment routes into Venezuela. When banks in the middle of a payment chain become cautious about a corridor, costs rise and settlement slows. A direct connection that cuts out intermediaries is designed to ease exactly that bottleneck.
Three needs the corridor targets
Thunes frames its entry around three priorities.
Faster payouts for gig and freelance workers. Digital platforms increasingly hire people across borders, from designers and translators to delivery partners and customer-service agents. The company says the corridor will let platforms pay Venezuelan freelancers instantly, which it argues is critical because 89% of people in the country live paycheck to paycheck or struggle with basic expenses, citing World Bank data. When income is that tight, waiting several days for a payment can mean skipping a bill or borrowing to cover it.
Broader financial inclusion. By connecting directly to local digital wallets and cash pickup points, the network aims to reach people who may never have had a conventional bank relationship. Payment access is often the first rung on the financial inclusion ladder. Someone who can receive money safely and quickly can start saving, paying bills digitally and eventually using other financial services.
Dependable remittance lifelines. For households that rely on money from relatives abroad, predictability can matter as much as speed. Knowing when funds will arrive, and that the amount received will match what was promised, allows families to plan.
What the executives said
Two senior Thunes figures framed the move as part of a broader regional strategy.
Alex Young, the company’s Chief Network Officer, said the expansion is another step in opening instant payment reach to more countries around the world, and that Latin America remains a pivotal growth region for the company. He argued that Venezuela’s market calls for fast, transparent and accessible cross-border infrastructure, and that opening the corridor lets network members deliver meaningful financial connectivity to individuals and businesses.
Ximena Azcuy, Head of Network for the Americas, described cross-border transfers as “an essential lifeline for millions of families” and for a growing community of digital freelancers. By extending direct real-time payout infrastructure into the country, she said, the company is removing friction and delays for network members and the end users they serve, at the moment and place where it is most needed.
Built on treasury and compliance systems
Moving money into a market with a complicated financial and regulatory history requires more than a fast pipe. Thunes says the Venezuelan corridor runs on its proprietary SmartX Treasury System for liquidity management, and on its Fortress Compliance Platform, supported by more than 50 regulatory licences worldwide. The company says this is meant to ensure that each payment meets international compliance, anti-money laundering and security standards.
This emphasis is deliberate. Cross-border payment providers face close scrutiny, and banks that handle international transfers want assurance that a partner can screen transactions properly. For network members, access to a corridor that comes with built-in compliance tooling is often as valuable as the speed itself. It means a bank or remittance operator can add Venezuela without building a separate set of controls for one destination.
A caution on what changes, and when
It is worth being measured about what this announcement means in practice. Reporting on the launch points out that the actual availability of each service will depend on the participating providers, the channels enabled, and the relevant operating and regulatory conditions. In other words, the corridor is now part of Thunes’ infrastructure, but individual senders will only benefit once their own bank, app or remittance provider connects to it and switches on Venezuela as a destination.
That is how network launches generally work. Thunes supplies the rails, and its members decide how to build products on them. Consumers will probably notice the change gradually, as providers they already use add or improve their Venezuela options. Anyone planning to send money should check with their provider about supported payout types, fees, exchange rates and timing before relying on a new service.
Part of a wider push into real-time payments
The Venezuela announcement is the latest in a run of expansions. Earlier in 2026, Thunes launched real-time payment capabilities into the United States, giving international members a direct route for dollar payouts. It has also rolled out real-time payouts to bank accounts and wallets in Saudi Arabia and extended its network to Morocco.
The company has also been building products around the way people now earn money. Thunes has introduced a direct-to-workforce payout solution for businesses paying overseas remote teams, freelancers and gig workers, including stablecoin payouts for workers in countries with volatile local currencies. A separate agreement with Coinbase will integrate the Direct Global Network into that platform, giving its customers last-mile delivery to mobile wallets and bank accounts worldwide, including hard-to-reach regions.
Seen together, the pattern is consistent. Thunes is trying to make the last mile of a cross-border payment, the part where money reaches a person’s account or wallet, as fast and predictable as a local transfer.
Why this matters beyond Venezuela
Cross-border payments have long been slow, costly and opaque, especially into markets considered higher risk. The old model relies on layers of correspondent banks, each adding time and fees. Newer networks like Thunes connect directly to local payment systems, which can shorten the journey and make delivery more transparent.
The demand is real. Thunes’ Money Without Borders 2025 report found that 65% of expatriates prioritise speed when choosing how to send money home. Gig platforms, which pay workers in dozens of countries at once, have the same pressure from the other direction. Workers expect to be paid quickly, and companies need a reliable way to do it.
For Latin America in particular, better payment links support more than convenience. Remittances and freelance income are a significant part of household finances across the region. Improving how that money flows can free up cash for families, reduce costs for small businesses and open digital financial services to people who were previously out of reach.
What to watch next
Several questions will determine how much difference the new corridor makes. How quickly will banks, remittance firms and platforms connect to it? Which payout channels will see the most use, whether bank transfers, wallets or cash pickup? Will faster settlement translate into lower prices for senders and recipients? And how will regulators and local institutions respond as more international money is routed through direct connections?
For now, the headline is straightforward. A major global payments network has opened a direct, real-time route into a country where money from abroad carries unusual weight. Whether that translates into everyday benefits for Venezuelan families, workers and businesses will depend on what the providers who use the network build on top of it.
Thunes is the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world. Its proprietary Direct Global Network allows members to make payments in real time in over 140 countries and more than 90 currencies. The network connects directly to over 12 billion mobile wallets, stablecoin wallets and bank accounts worldwide, as well as 15 billion cards, through more than 220 payment methods, including GCash, M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN, Orange, JazzCash, Easypaisa, Alipay and WeChat Pay HK. The network is distinguished by its worldwide reach, its in-house SmartX Treasury System and its Fortress Compliance Platform. Members include gig economy companies such as Uber and Deliveroo, super-apps such as Grab and WeChat, money transfer operators, fintechs, payment service providers and banks. Thunes is headquartered in Singapore and has offices in 14 locations, including Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Nairobi, New York, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco and Shanghai. Learn more at thunes.com.
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