Absa Group has selected cross border payments network Thunes as a strategic Multicurrency Clearing partner for the Group, building on the two companies’ recent launch of Absa Global Pay in South Africa. The announcement was made from Johannesburg and Singapore last week.
Under the arrangement, Absa’s pan African banking footprint will be linked directly to Thunes’ Direct Global Network, which spans more than 140 countries, 90 currencies and 220 payment methods. The two companies said this will allow payouts beyond bank accounts to mobile wallets and card rails, backed by 24/7 liquidity and enterprise grade compliance. Executives from both organisations held a signing ceremony at Sibos 2026 in Miami.
Multicurrency clearing is described as a fundamental pillar of Absa’s strategy to offer greater speed, transparency and choice in cross border payments. The expanded relationship will support the bank’s wider cross border payments strategy across Africa and global markets, rather than a single corridor or product.
Richard Southey, Managing Executive for Payments as a Service at Absa CIB, said the deeper collaboration is a natural step in the bank’s push to deliver intuitive financial services, and that the Global Pay experience in South Africa gives Absa a base to extend its cross border offering across the continent.
“Deepening our strategic collaboration with Thunes is a natural evolution of our commitment to delivering intuitive, world-class financial services. Following the success of our Global Pay solution launched with Thunes in South Africa, expanding this collaboration allows Absa to leverage Thunes’ expansive and trusted Network across the continent to extend our cross-border solution, giving our clients unprecedented currency choice, speed, and cost efficiency,” Southey said.
Daniel Parreira, Senior Vice President for Africa at Thunes, said the early work with Absa showed what happens when deep local banking relationships meet interoperable global reach, and that Thunes is now taking on a clearing role that supplies the infrastructure and liquidity to connect African businesses and consumers to global payment systems.
“Our initial work with Absa demonstrated the tremendous impact of combining deep local banking relationships with interoperable global payment reach. By extending our collaboration and taking on a strategic Multicurrency Clearing role supporting Absa Group, we are providing the digital infrastructure and liquidity needed to connect African businesses and consumers to global payment ecosystems seamlessly,” Parreira said.
For Absa’s clients, a clearing arrangement could mean more currencies and payout options through a single bank, without Absa having to build each connection itself. For Thunes, being named clearing partner for a Group with banks in a number of African markets strengthens its position in the region, though neither company has named the markets, corridors or timing involved.
Digital Trade Outlook’s View: Multicurrency Clearing
What stands out is the word ‘clearing’. Absa is not only adding a payout route for its customers, it is giving Thunes a role in how money moves across its own banking footprint and out to the rest of the world, which sits closer to a bank’s core plumbing than a typical payout deal. As no markets or timeline have been named, the thing to watch is how quickly the arrangement reaches Absa’s banks outside South Africa, which will show whether the model works across the Group.
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