Source: Thunes
Singapore-headquartered Thunes, the leading interoperable global cross-border payments network for emerging markets has secured regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for payments services directly in Singapore.
The new license extends Thunes’ capabilities to provide global payments solutions for customers on the FinTech firm’s payment network which already spans across more than 80 countries.
Thunes was previously only authorised to conduct payment services with established, licensed financial institutions such as DBS Bank, Citibank NA, Grab, and SingTel in Singapore. With this new license, Thunes will be able to offer its interoperable membership network and directly onboard any local players in the digital payments ecosystem to facilitate the movement of funds with greater ease, speed and cost efficiency. Additionally, Thunes’ status as a regulated entity under the upcoming Payment Services Act puts the company in good stead to expand into additional payment offerings.
Before the MAS approval, Thunes had been operating its global payments business via regulatory oversight from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. This expansion of regulatory regimes for the FinTech is an endorsement of the global nature of the business model that Thunes is pioneering and will make it easier in particular to expand faster across the APAC region.
“We are delighted to receive the remittance license from the MAS. With the Payment Services Act entering into force early next year, we look forward to expanding our range of services provided on our global interoperable membership network to better serve the needs of financial institutions and corporates. Given Singapore’s key status as a global trade and FinTech hub, the new licensing arrangement will not only allow us to expand our payment offerings to more financial institutions and corporates, but also create additional possibilities for local businesses seeking to venture abroad,” commented Peter de Caluwe, Executive Chairman of Thunes.
This move highlights Thunes’ growing momentum in the global digital payments ecosystem. The announcement of the remittance license follows its recent partnership announcement with Global eTrade Services (GeTS), a global trade platform company that uses Thunes’ platform to enable the flow of funds in and out of Southeast Asia. It also comes on the back of the FinTech company having recently secured approval to operate in the world’s two largest economies - the United States (U.S) and China.