Thunes launches cross-border payouts across six new Middle East markets. The company is Silver Partner at Banking 4.0.

Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, today announced a major expansion of its Direct Global Network across the Middle East. The expansion introduces new payout services into six key markets: the Kingdom of Bahrain, Lebanon, the Sultanate of Oman, South Yemen, Syria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“This move significantly enhances Thunes’ cross-border infrastructure in the region, delivering faster, highly transparent payment solutions for Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network. Members can now process payouts to millions of bank accounts, mobile wallets, and cash pickup locations in local currencies throughout the region, either through direct API integration with Thunes or by leveraging existing Swift connectivity.” – according to the press release.

The regional rollout builds on Thunes’ expansion of real-time payments across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in September 2025 and targets diverse economic needs across the Middle East:

• Powering Digital Economies: In Bahrain, where the non-oil sector contributed 85% of real GDP in 2025, Thunes supports direct bank payouts aligned with the nation’s National Digital Economy Strategy. In Oman, bank account payouts support the digital transformation goals of Oman Vision 2040 alongside projected GDP growth of 4% in 2026.
• Fueling Enterprise and Consumer Growth: In the UAE, a primary regional payments hub driven by the National Payment Systems Strategy (NPSS), Thunes now supports bank account payouts for both consumers and enterprises.
• Delivering Vital Remittance Lifelines: In markets relying on remittance flows for economic resilience and recovery, Thunes provides critical access points:
  • Lebanon: Supporting mobile wallet payouts in a market receiving roughly $7 billion per year in remittances.
  • South Yemen: Enabling bank and cash pickup payouts where remittances represent over 38% of its total GDP, ranking among the top three most remittance-dependent nations globally.
  • Syria: Introducing payouts to cash pickup locations, providing reliable financial access amid broader efforts to rebuild the local banking system.

“Launching new payout capabilities across the Middle East unlocks significant value for our Members and their end-users. These markets are deeply committed to digital innovation and financial inclusion. Thunes is proud to provide the infrastructure that empowers businesses and individuals to participate seamlessly in international commerce and the broader global economy.”

Chloé Mayenobe, Deputy CEO of Thunes

With this expansion, Thunes reinforces its position as a leading provider of global money movement. The solutions leverage Thunes’ in-house SmartX Treasury System for AI-driven forecasting and real-time liquidity management, and its Fortress Compliance Platform, which benefits from over 50 licences worldwide, ensuring that every payment is executed with the highest levels of security, compliance and operational efficiency.

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Thunes is the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world. Thunes’ proprietary Direct Global Network allows Members to make payments in real-time in over 140 countries and more than 90 currencies. Thunes’ Network connects directly to over 12 billion mobile wallets, stablecoin wallets and bank accounts worldwide, as well as 15 billion cards via more than 220 different payment methods, such as GCash, M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN, Orange, JazzCash, Easypaisa, AliPay, WeChat Pay and many more.

Thunes’ Direct Global Network differentiates itself through its worldwide reach, in-house SmartX Treasury System and Fortress Compliance Platform, ensuring Members of the Network receive unrivaled speed, control, visibility, protection, and cost efficiencies when making real-time payments, globally.

Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network include gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo, super-apps like Grab and WeChat, MTOs, fintechs, PSPs and banks. Headquartered in Singapore, Thunes has offices in 14 locations, including Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Nairobi, New York, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco and Shanghai.

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