#thunes

Ripple Thunes real-time payments hit US Tier 1 banks

Ripple Thunes real-time payments expand into the US as Thunes connects to a Tier 1 bank, adding ACH rails across 140 countries via XRP.

Ripple Partner Thunes Unveils Development That Could Strengthen XRP’s Global Payment Narrative

Ripple’s global payments narrative may be gaining fresh momentum as one of its key partners, Thunes, unveils a new development that could further strengthen cross-border settlement infrastructure. As the demand for faster, cheaper, and more efficient international payments continues to rise, strate…

As online platforms expand beyond their domestic markets, the complexity of paying users internationally increases faster than many teams expect. What starts as a simple operational task can quickly turn into a critical growth constraint. Cross-border payouts sit at the intersection of finance, compliance, user experience, and technical infrastructure, and weaknesses in any one of these areas tend to surface as volume scales.

Many businesses first encounter this challenge when they begin paying international creators, sellers, freelancers, or affiliates. Suddenly, payout speed, reliability, and transparency become visible parts of the product experience rather than background processes.

For this reason, companies exploring global payout infrastructure often research solutions like Thunes and its approach to cross border payouts as they look to support multiple regions, currencies, and local payment methods without building everything in-house. At scale, payouts are less about sending money and more about maintaining trust across borders.

What Cross-Border Payouts Really Involve

At a surface level, a cross-border payout is the transfer of funds from a business in one country to a recipient in another. In practice, each transaction passes through several layers, including compliance checks, currency conversion, local clearing systems, and settlement networks.

The challenge grows when payouts span:

Multiple currencies with fluctuating exchange rates

Countries with different banking infrastructures

Regions where wallets or instant payment schemes are preferred over bank transfers

A payout flow that works smoothly in one market may fail or slow down significantly in another.

Speed Is About Expectations, Not Just Time

Payout speed is often discussed in absolute terms, but user expectations vary by region. In some markets, next-day settlement feels slow. In others, multi-day transfers are still common.

When businesses expand globally, they learn that speed depends on:

Local clearing cut-off times

Whether funds move through intermediaries

Regulatory verification steps

Meeting local expectations often matters more than achieving uniform timing worldwide.

Fragmentation Is the Default, Not the Exception

Global payouts are inherently fragmented. Some countries rely heavily on traditional bank transfers, while others favor mobile wallets or real-time payment systems.

Supporting recipients in multiple regions usually means handling:

Different data requirements for each country

Varying settlement timelines

Multiple payout formats

Without a unified strategy, payout operations can become difficult to scale and maintain.

Compliance Is Continuous, Not One-Time

Many teams underestimate how dynamic compliance requirements are. Regulations change frequently, and enforcement standards vary by jurisdiction.

Cross-border payouts require ongoing attention to:

Identity verification

Anti-money laundering screening

Sanctions compliance

Transaction monitoring

As payout volumes grow, automation and auditability become essential for maintaining compliance without slowing operations.

FX Decisions Shape Cost and Trust

Currency conversion is more than a backend detail. Exchange rates, fees, and timing directly affect both business margins and recipient satisfaction.

Businesses managing international payouts often evaluate:

Whether conversion happens before or after settlement

How rates are sourced and displayed

Whether recipients can receive funds in local currency

Clear FX practices reduce confusion and payout-related disputes.

Visibility Reduces Support Load

Once payouts scale internationally, visibility becomes critical. Without clear insight into where funds are in the payout lifecycle, support teams struggle to answer user questions.

Effective payout operations typically include:

Real-time or near-real-time status tracking

Clear failure reason codes

Reconciliation tools for finance teams

Better visibility often leads to fewer support tickets and faster issue resolution.

Failure Handling Is Part of the System

No payout system operates without failures. Incorrect recipient details, local bank issues, or regulatory blocks can interrupt transactions.

Well-designed payout systems focus on:

Early failure detection

Intelligent retries where appropriate

Clear communication with recipients

How failures are handled often has a bigger impact on user trust than how often they occur.

Scaling Requires Standardisation

Early payout setups may work for small volumes, but they often break under scale. As businesses grow, they learn the importance of standardising payout logic and workflows.

Successful scaling usually involves:

Centralised payout orchestration

Consistent reporting across regions

Abstraction of local differences behind unified APIs

This reduces technical debt as new markets are added.

Local Experience Drives Global Adoption

Recipients judge payout experiences based on local norms. A payout that feels seamless in one country may feel unfamiliar or slow in another.

Local optimisation includes:

Preferred payout methods

Familiar settlement timelines

Clear communication in local contexts

Meeting these expectations improves adoption and retention.

Payouts as a Competitive Advantage

For many platforms, payouts evolve from a cost center into a competitive differentiator. Reliable and transparent payouts can attract higher-quality participants and support international growth.

As global platforms compete for users, payout experience increasingly influences platform loyalty.

Final Thoughts

Cross-border payouts are often underestimated during early growth stages. As platforms scale, payouts become tightly linked to trust, compliance, and operational efficiency.

Businesses that treat payouts as a strategic capability rather than a simple transfer function are better positioned to expand internationally without friction. Investing early in scalable, transparent payout infrastructure helps avoid costly rework later and supports long-term global growth.

Ripple’s expanded partnership with Thunes promises faster, more efficient payments. XRP’s continued role excites community, fueling optimism for global payments. Ripple and Thunes’ integration aims to improve financial inclusion globally. Ripple’s expanded partnership with Thunes has created a surge of excitement within the XRP community. The collaboration follows a pre-existing relationship…

Thunes, a Singapore and London-based fintech that has built a payments platform for businesses to send money to each other internationally by tapping into the growing network of mobile wallets and other alternatives to bank accounts, has closed its Series C round of funding to expand its business. The startup has raised $72 million, money that it will be using to continue adding more providers to…