SINGAPORE, March 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, today announced a new breakthrough in cross-border payments with the successful activation of Pay-to-Wallet by Banco Cathay of Costa Rica.

This innovative solution transforms the reach and efficiency of Banco Cathay's cross-border offering, enabling seamless digital disbursements to markets where mobile wallets are the dominant payment method.

With Thunes' Pay-to-Wallet solution, any bank connected to Swift's global network can join Thunes' Direct Global Network and unlock fast, transparent, and secure payments to mobile wallets with minimal operational lift. Transactions are powered by Thunes' SmartX Treasury System and Fortress Compliance Platform, ensuring end-to-end control, visibility, protection, and cost-efficiency.

Chloé Mayenobe , Deputy CEO at Thunes, said: "Thanks to our Pay-to-Wallet solution, any financial institution can utilise their existing secure Swift connectivity to access our Direct Global Network and send instant payments to billions of mobile wallets worldwide. Our alliance with Banco Cathay of Costa Rica proves what's possible when traditional banking infrastructure meets next-generation payment rails. It's important progress for financial inclusion and another example of how Thunes is enabling cross-border interoperability."

Franklin Wang , Commercial Manager at Banco Cathay of Costa Rica added: "We're proud to bring this powerful capability to life. We are enabling faster, simpler, and more accessible cross-border payments for our customers who want to make payments to mobile wallets."

This step strengthens Thunes' commitment to building a more inclusive financial ecosystem and extending fast, modern payment services to underbanked and mobile-first populations. By bridging traditional banking infrastructure with the mobile wallet economy, Thunes and the Members of its Network are laying the groundwork for the next era of global payments.

About Thunes:

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 130 countries and more than 80 currencies. Thunes' Network connects directly to over 7 billion mobile wallets, stablecoin wallets and bank accounts worldwide, as well as 15 billion cards via more than 320 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 Atlanta, Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Nairobi, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco and Shanghai. For more information, visit: https://www.thunes.com/

About Banco Cathay of Costa Rica:

Banco Cathay of Costa Rica started its operations in March, 1998 and after 26 years of trajectory, it has established itself as a model institution of its kind due to the quality of services it provides, the professionalism of its human resources, the variety of products it offers, the technological support that covers all its operations and the vision of its management team.

It continues being the only bank in Costa Rica that has a close relationship with the Oriental Population established in the country, as a result of an Oriental Staff, with the same culture, idiosyncrasy and behavior, who make them feel confident.

For more information, visit: https://www.bancocathay.com/