Deepened strategic alliance between Thunes and UnionPay International unlocks instant payouts to UnionPay cards covering 79 major Chinese banks and up to $10,000 USD daily limits.
SINGAPORE and SHANGHAI, Nov. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, today announced a deepening of its strategic alliance with UnionPay International (UPI), transforming cross-border money movement into China’s mainland with bank-grade security and expansive operational scale.
Through this collaboration, Thunes enables Financial Institutions, Payment Service Providers, and Money Transfer Operators to route instant cross-border consumer payouts to UnionPay cards in China’s mainland. With a strategic reach that spans countries worldwide, key expansion corridors include Africa, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, and the USA.
The direct connection will result in streamlined access to a massive base of UnionPay cardholders across 79 major Chinese banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of Communications (BOCOM), China Merchants Bank (CMB).
Cross-border remittances into China’s mainland have historically been constrained by low daily transaction caps, forcing senders to split larger personal transfers across multiple days or endure complex manual processing. By integrating UnionPay International’s increased daily payment limit directly into its payout rails, Thunes bridges this critical market gap. Network Members can now process real-time, compliant transfers of up to $10,000 USD per recipient cardholder, empowering businesses to send larger volumes, and consumers to send substantial family support onto UnionPay cards in a single daily transaction, eliminating operational friction and settlement delays.
As an officially recognised strategic partner to UnionPay International, Thunes provides a fully compliant, bank-grade route for Pay-to-Card services into China’s mainland that eliminates system outage risks, unauthorized routing, and service disruptions.
The collaboration connects Thunes’ Direct Global Network to UPI International through a single API, so Thunes’ Members gain immediate, high-capacity reach into China’s card ecosystem without high setup costs, strict eligibility hurdles, or ongoing technical maintenance.
Chloé Mayenobe, Deputy CEO at Thunes, said: “Strengthening our strategic alignment with UnionPay International marks a major evolution in how money moves globally. By enabling high-capacity, direct-to-card payouts into China’s mainland, we are breaking down legacy barriers in one of the world’s most dynamic payment corridors. Unlocking these higher transaction limits supports the growth of our Members, empowering financial institutions everywhere to scale their cross-border flows into China with unmatched speed and compliance.”
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