Fiserv’s merchant platforms and marketplaces can now send money to pay employees, bills and suppliers anywhere in the world in real time, after the payments group struck a deal with cross-border payments network Thunes.
The agreement, announced on 17 August, gives Fiserv’s merchant clients single-integration access to Thunes’ Direct Global Network, which Thunes says reaches 12 billion bank accounts and mobile wallets in more than 140 countries and 90 currencies.
Fiserv processes payments across more than 6 million merchant locations and serves roughly 10,000 financial institutions worldwide, making its merchant base one of the largest a cross-border payments network could plug into in a single deal.
Licensing underpins the US push
Thunes operates in the US through Thunes Financial Services LLC, which is registered with the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System. That licensing base is what Kyle Rosen, head of Americas at Thunes, pointed to when discussing the deal.
“US platforms and marketplaces have historically faced significant friction when paying out globally at scale,” Rosen said, adding that Thunes’ licensed US payments capabilities paired with Fiserv’s merchant network could speed up global payouts for businesses expanding abroad.
Sanjay Saraf, chief product officer at Fiserv Merchant Services, said the tie-up helps businesses “move money globally with greater speed, transparency and predictability, supporting more efficient and scalable global operations.”
Chloé Mayenobe, deputy chief executive at Thunes, said the deal “validates Thunes’ ability to support the world’s largest fintechs with a robust global network designed to support compliant and efficient cross-border payouts.”
Platforms are driving cross-border demand
Business-to-business transactions accounted for 72.8% of the wider cross-border payments market’s revenue in 2025, and e-commerce and marketplace platforms are among the fastest-growing sources of that demand, with digital marketplaces and online freelancing platforms increasingly accelerating the need for cross-border payment processing, according to Grand View Research. Fiserv’s own platform and marketplace clients are exactly the type of businesses that demand describes.
What the announcement does not include is a name. Neither company points to a single merchant, marketplace or platform actually moving a payout through the new link, and no go-live date was disclosed. This is an announced collaboration backed by a US licensing base to run it on, real infrastructure already in place. The clearest proof it is working as advertised will be a live customer moving payouts through it.
