Absa and Thunes Expand Partnership for African Cross-Border Payments
Absa Group and Thunes are deepening their partnership to enhance cross-border payments across Africa. The expanded agreement focuses on streamlining multi-currency clearing and ensuring liquidity.
Absa Group, one of Africa's largest diversified financial services providers, has expanded its strategic partnership with Thunes, a global payments infrastructure provider. The collaboration aims to enhance cross-border payments and multi-currency clearing (MCC) services across the African continent.
This expanded cooperation follows the recent successful launch of Absa Global Pay in South Africa by the two companies. The new agreement allows Absa to leverage Thunes' global payment connectivity and local market expertise for a more comprehensive cross-border payment network.
The partnership is designed to offer Absa's clients smoother foreign exchange operations, scalable liquidity, and a multi-way cross-border clearing system. Thunes' global network spans over 140 countries, 90 currencies, and 220 payment methods, enabling disbursements not only to bank accounts but also to mobile wallets and card networks.
Richard Southey, Managing Director of Payments as a Service at Absa CIB, highlighted that strengthening the strategic collaboration aligns with the company's commitment to providing intuitive, best-in-class financial services. Daniel Parreira, Senior Vice President for Africa at Thunes, noted that the partnership will empower African businesses and consumers by connecting them seamlessly to global payment ecosystems.
The reinforcement of the partnership was marked by an official signing ceremony at the SIBOS 2026 conference in Miami. Absa Group is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and offers a range of financial services throughout Africa.