Thunes expands instant payment capabilities for China

Singapore-based cross-border payments company Thunes has expanded its partnership with UnionPay International, the overseas arm of China’s major card network. The updated integration allows financial institutions and money transfer operators to process instant payouts to UnionPay cards in mainland China via a unified application programming interface.

The service now supports cards issued by 79 banks and permits daily transfer limits of up to US$10,000 per cardholder. This increase is intended to reduce the operational necessity for senders to partition large transfers over several days or manage them through manual, slower workflows.

Thunes has identified Australia and the United States as key corridors for this expansion. The move is part of an ongoing effort to simplify the technical infrastructure required for international remittances to the Chinese market.

The sector remains highly competitive, with established players like Visa Direct also aggressively expanding their money movement networks to access the large base of cardholders in mainland China. The development highlights the industry focus on removing friction in cross-border financial services.