Bank Aljazira has signed up with Thunes to beef up international remittances for its retail customers in Saudi Arabia. The lender will plug into Thunes’ Direct Global Network to send money to bank accounts and mobile wallets abroad, with more routes across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Saudi Arabia sends a lot of money overseas. Research by Thunes and Juniper Research found 56% of residents made an international payment in the past year, against 67% across the Middle East and North Africa. Expatriates make up around 78% of the Saudi workforce.
And people want it fast. In the same survey, 58% of Saudi respondents put quick transfers first, well ahead of clear fees (12%) and cheaper fees (11%).
Fahad Almutairi, Head of Retail Digital Banking and Payments at Bank Aljazira, expects a big step up. “Leveraging Thunes’ trusted Direct Global Network will enable us to upgrade our cross-border payment capabilities significantly,” he said. “With the growth of new payment innovation and soaring international popularity of mobile wallets, we are prioritizing our customers’ unprecedented access and faster account transfers across key international corridors.”
Ahmad Yaacoub, VP MENA and Country Head for Saudi Arabia at Thunes, described the deal as “connecting the Kingdom to the world, transforming how millions of people send money home.”
Thunes says its members can pay in real time to more than 140 countries in over 90 currencies. The agreement adds to its list of Saudi banking partners as the country builds out digital payments under Vision 2030.
For expatriates in the Kingdom, the payoff should be faster transfers to accounts and wallets back home. There’s no date yet for the new corridors, no word on which markets go first and no figures on how much the bank sends today.
Digital Trade Outlook’s View: Banks Compete for the Remittance Customer
Here’s a traditional bank chasing business that exchange houses and transfer apps have owned for years. When most of the workforce is foreign and speed beats price by a wide margin, whoever lands money in a wallet abroad fastest wins. Using an existing network means Bank Aljazira can add routes without building each one itself. Whether that wins back flows that skip banks altogether is the real test.
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