Thunes global payout network review: Features & fees

Key takeaways

• Sending $200 across borders still costs 6.36% on average as of late 2025, more than double the UN's 3% target for remittances.¹

• Thunes is built for large enterprises, fintech platforms, and global marketplaces running high-volume, programmatic payouts. It's the wrong fit for SMBs that need multi-currency collections, spend management, or treasury tools alongside payouts.

• If you need more than outbound payouts, the Airwallex Business Account combines multi-currency collections, same-day international transfers, and corporate card issuing in one platform, with no monthly fees or minimum balance.

Cross-border payments at scale get expensive fast, especially once a transaction starts hopping between correspondent banks on its way to the recipient. This review breaks down how Thunes works, who it's built for, what it costs, where the model falls short, and how it compares to full-service platforms like the Airwallex Business Account for companies that need cross-border payment solutions that go beyond outbound payouts.

What is Thunes?

Thunes is a Singapore-based B2B payments infrastructure company running its own global network for cross-border transfers. The company spun out of TransferTo, a mobile payments platform founded in 2005, in 2016. When TransferTo split up, DT One took over the mobile top-up business and Thunes became a standalone B2B cross-border payments network.

CEO Peter De Caluwe has led Thunes through a $150 million Series D, pushing total funding to $362 million at a valuation near $900 million. The company now has offices in London, Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Miami, Nairobi, and three US cities: San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York. It positions itself as an alternative to SWIFT, linking financial institutions, marketplaces, and payment providers directly to billions of endpoints.

How does Thunes work?

At the core is the Direct Global Network, Thunes's own interoperability layer for connecting otherwise fragmented payment systems. Enterprises kick off a transaction through the Thunes Money Transfer API or their existing SWIFT messaging setup, and Thunes handles the routing, real-time FX conversion, and compliance checks before delivering funds to the target endpoint. Instead of pushing payments through the usual correspondent banking chain of nested Nostro/Vostro accounts and SWIFT message hops, Thunes plugs directly into local clearing systems.

Liquidity management runs through its SmartX Treasury System, which supports real-time FX execution in 90 currencies. That means treasury teams can pool liquidity centrally and push funds into whichever corridor needs it, instead of pre-funding an account in every country they pay out to.

Is Thunes a licensed and regulated company?

Yes, Thunes holds its own regulatory licenses rather than leaning on regional partners for coverage, which is a real structural advantage. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) regulates it as a Major Payment Institution, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has granted it an Authorized Payment Institution license, and France's ACPR has issued it a Payment Institution license. In the US, it holds Money Transmission Licenses (MTLs) in all 50 states and territories.

Its Fortress Compliance Platform builds AML, KYC, and sanctions screening into every stage of the payment flow, in every jurisdiction it operates in.

Who is Thunes best for?

Thunes is designed for high-volume enterprises, marketplaces, and financial institutions running mass disbursements across fragmented payment networks. It's not a tool for small businesses making occasional transfers; the infrastructure is built for programmatic, scale-driven operations.

Gig economy platforms and two-sided marketplaces

Gig platforms and marketplaces face a specific challenge: paying contractors and freelancers across dozens of countries, many of whom don't have traditional bank accounts. Companies like Uber, Deliveroo, and Grab use Thunes to pay out in local currencies and preferred payment methods. Traditional international bank wires are too expensive and slow for this use case, particularly in emerging markets.

Thunes solves this by connecting directly to over 4 billion mobile and stablecoin wallets globally, enabling instant payouts that land in digital wallets without going through costly banking channels.

Money transfer operators, banks, and fintechs

Banks, neobanks (Revolut, D360, Commercial Bank of Dubai), money transfer operators (Western Union, Remitly, Ria), and fintech platforms use Thunes to expand their payout corridors. Many regional banks lack direct correspondent networks or the resources to build custom wallet integrations, and Thunes acts as a unified clearing bridge. Its integration with the Temenos Core platform lets financial institutions add the payouts API directly from their existing core banking software.

For businesses comparing international payment options more broadly, our Wise Business review covers another widely used alternative.

Core features of Thunes

Here's how the platform's technical and operational infrastructure breaks down.

Global payout network and coverage

The Direct Global Network connects members to over 12 billion bank accounts and mobile wallets, 15 billion cards, and 220+ payment methods across 140 countries. Transactions route to the payment rails recipients actually use in their local markets, not just the rails that are convenient for the sender.

API and developer integration

The Money Transfer API is REST-based and runs on standard JSON payloads with case-insensitive headers. Developers pull the identifiers they need for a destination payer with GET /payers, lock in an exchange rate with POST /quotations, and fire off the payment with POST /transactions. Real-time JSON callbacks handle status updates throughout the payment lifecycle.

All endpoints require HTTP Basic or Digest Authentication. Sandbox environments are available for testing payment flows before going live in production.

Stablecoin and digital wallet payouts

Thunes launched its Pay-to-Stablecoin-Wallets solution in late 2025, supporting USDC and USDT payouts through a partnership with Circle. The setup bridges stablecoin settlements with fiat currency payouts across 140 countries, enabling digital asset firms and payroll platforms to fund a single pool of digital liquidity and execute 24/7 payouts to mobile or stablecoin wallets. Because stablecoin rails settle on-chain in minutes, platforms can reduce working capital requirements on high-volume corridors.

Compliance and fraud screening

Thunes acquired a controlling stake in Tookitaki, an AI-driven compliance regtech firm, to power its Fortress Compliance Platform. Tookitaki's FinCense platform uses machine learning to catch complex anomalies in real time, cutting false positives by up to 50% while hitting 90% accuracy on the alerts it does generate. That covers transaction monitoring, screening, customer risk scoring, and case management in one system.

FinCense keeps learning too, pulling in new money laundering pattern data from global compliance experts so teams aren't stuck fighting yesterday's fraud patterns.

Payout reach and speed

Thunes taps into local real-time payment systems such as Pix in Brazil, UPI in India, and SEPA Instant in Europe, and settles roughly 85% of transactions instantly. Sending partners can track a payment's status and fee deductions at every step, a sharp contrast to the black box that correspondent banking chains tend to be.

Thunes fees and pricing

Thunes doesn't publish flat pricing or subscription tiers. Pricing gets negotiated case by case, based on your transaction volume, target corridors, and payout methods. Expect a mix of per-transaction commissions, FX settlement spreads run through the SmartX Treasury System, and a monthly platform fee if you want dedicated API access.

Here's how the typical cost components stack up between legacy correspondent banking and Thunes's direct routing model.

For large enterprises processing significant volume, the economics are compelling. For smaller firms running lower volumes across diverse corridors, pricing predictability can be harder to nail down without direct contract negotiations.

Pros and cons of Thunes

Here are the main structural advantages and operational limitations to weigh before committing to Thunes as your payout infrastructure.

What customers are saying about Thunes

Reviews on G2² and Trustpilot³ tell two different stories about Thunes: strong marks for the technical infrastructure, weaker marks for customer support. G2 reviewers, mostly payment operations managers at verified enterprises, give it 4.7 out of 5 and consistently praise its reliability and the depth of its transaction reporting. Trustpilot paints a rougher picture, with a 2.4 out of 5 rating from a much smaller pool of reviewers.

Slow support response times are the top complaint on Trustpilot, particularly when a transaction gets stuck in a compliance hold or exception. Because primary support operations are based in Asia, businesses in Western time zones sometimes face communication delays. The resolution process for complex compliance reviews comes up repeatedly as a friction point, suggesting exception handling is where the operational experience lags behind the technical capabilities.

By contrast, the Airwallex Business Account offers globally distributed support with faster response times and a dedicated account management layer for businesses that need reliable, accessible assistance when issues arise.

The verdict: Is Thunes worth it?

If you're a large enterprise, fintech platform, or global marketplace that needs automated, high-speed disbursements across a wide range of endpoints, Thunes is worth it. Skipping correspondent banks, reaching billions of wallets through a single API, and automating AML screening with embedded AI add up to a strong fit for scale-driven payout operations. For small and midsize businesses that also need collections, corporate spend management, and treasury operations, a pure payout network won't cover the full picture.

Why businesses should consider the Airwallex Business Account over Thunes

Thunes is a specialized disbursement highway. The Airwallex Business Account is a full financial operating system, and the difference matters when you're managing cross-border payment solutions end-to-end, from collection to disbursement.

With the Airwallex Business Account, businesses can open domestic and foreign currency accounts across 21 countries with local routing details, collecting payments from global buyers in local currencies without paying conversion fees or setting up foreign entities. Funds can be held in 20+ currencies and settled like-for-like to avoid forced FX markups. A useful benchmark when evaluating your current provider's rates is the real-time EUR to USD converter.

Airwallex routes 94% of transactions outside the SWIFT network via direct domestic clearing, with 93% of payments arriving within hours or the same day. The Airwallex Business Account also issues physical and virtual corporate Visa cards in 60+ markets, with built-in expense tracking and up to 1.5% cashback, all with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements.

For a broader look at your options, see the roundups on the best international business bank accounts and best multi-currency accounts.

Frequently asked questions about Thunes

What companies use Thunes?

Thunes counts high-volume enterprises and financial institutions among its clients: gig platforms like Uber, Deliveroo, and Grab; money transfer operators like Western Union, Remitly, and Ria; and banks and neobanks such as Revolut and the Commercial Bank of Dubai. It's built for programmatic, large-scale payout operations, not for individual consumers or small businesses sending occasional transfers.

Is Thunes publicly traded?

No, Thunes is privately held. Its investors include Vitruvian Partners, Apis Partners, Marshall Wace, Bessemer Venture Partners, Visa, and GGV Capital. Accredited and institutional investors may be able to find pre-IPO shares through specialized secondary marketplaces.

How does Thunes connect to SWIFT?

Thunes offers a SWIFT Pay-to-Wallets bridge that lets traditional financial institutions route payments into mobile wallets without building custom API integrations. Banks send transaction instructions through their existing SWIFT messaging infrastructure, and the Thunes Direct Global Network handles settlement to over 3 billion wallets worldwide.

What is the main difference between Thunes and the Airwallex Business Account?

Thunes is a backend payout infrastructure provider focused on high-volume, programmatic disbursements to bank accounts, wallets, and card schemes. The Airwallex Business Account is an end-to-end global financial platform that combines local collection accounts, multi-currency settlement, corporate card issuing, and expense management, all in one product.

Sources

1. https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/RPW_main_report_and_annex_Q325.pdf

2. https://www.g2.com/products/thunes/reviews

3. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.thunes.com