Thunes, a Singapore-based cross-border payments infrastructure company valued at over $900 million, has partnered with Sterling Bank to enable Nigerians in Europe to send money home instantly with zero transfer fees through the bank’s Switch platform.
The collaboration, announced Monday, integrates Sterling Bank into Thunes’ Direct Global Network, allowing customers in the UK and Europe to fund their Nigerian accounts in real-time with transparent foreign exchange rates and no additional charges.
The partnership arrives at a pivotal moment. Nigeria’s diaspora remittances surged to $20.93 billion in 2024, an 8.9% increase from the previous year, making the country Africa’s largest recipient of remittances and one of the top five globally.
How It Works
Sterling Bank customers in the UK and Europe can now link their local bank accounts directly to the Switch platform and transfer British pounds or euros to their Nigerian naira accounts. The service supports GBP-to-NGN and EUR-to-NGN transfers, with USD, CAD, and additional currency corridors expected soon.
Transfers starting from as low as £10 or €10 settle instantly, secured through Bank Verification Number and National Identity Number verification.
“This is about speed, simplicity, and control,” said Ayodeji Saba, Head of Switch and Remittances at Sterling Bank. “Nigerians in the UK and Europe can now link their pound or euro accounts directly to Switch and instantly top up Naira for bills, family support, or investments at home.”
The service addresses a long-standing friction in Nigeria’s remittance ecosystem: the gap between official and parallel market exchange rates that has historically pushed diaspora flows through informal channels.
The $20 Billion Opportunity
With an estimated 17 million Nigerians living abroad, the demand for reliable remittance channels has intensified. Recent research from Thunes shows that for nearly half (46%) of diaspora consumers across Europe, sending money home is a regular and essential financial activity, comparable to paying rent or utilities.
Inflows through International Money Transfer Operators surged 43.5% to $4.73 billion in 2024, up from $3.30 billion in 2023, reflecting growing confidence in formal remittance channels following Central Bank of Nigeria reforms.
“Welcoming Sterling Bank to our Direct Global Network marks another significant milestone in our expansion across Africa,” said Daniel Parreira, SVP of Sales for Africa at Thunes. “Together, we’re enabling a new level of convenience, speed, and confidence for customers managing finances across borders.”
Thunes’ African Push
The Sterling Bank deal represents Thunes’ broader strategy to capture Africa’s growing remittance flows. The company’s Direct Global Network now spans over 130 countries, supports 80+ currencies, and connects to more than 7 billion mobile wallets and bank accounts worldwide through 550+ direct integrations.
Thunes raised $150 million in Series D funding in April 2025, led by Apis Partners and Vitruvian Partners. The company reports an annual revenue run-rate of $150 million with positive EBITDA, a rare achievement in the current fintech funding environment.
The company’s client roster includes Uber, Deliveroo, PayPal, Remitly, and Revolut, processing payments through its proprietary SmartX Treasury System and Fortress Compliance Platform.
Competitive Dynamics
Sterling Bank’s move intensifies competition in Nigeria’s remittance market. Fintechs including Moniepoint have expanded aggressively into global transfers with the launch of MonieWorld, while platforms like Flutterwave’s Send, Grey, and LemFi are also targeting the diaspora segment, offering instant remittances and multicurrency accounts.
The zero-fee model marks a shift from traditional money transfer operators that have historically charged percentage-based fees. By eliminating transfer charges while maintaining transparent FX rates, Sterling Bank is betting it can capture market share from both informal channels and legacy players.
For Sterling Bank, the partnership builds on recent infrastructure wins. In September 2025, the bank’s homegrown core banking application, SEABaaS, processed two billion transactions within a year without downtime, providing the technical foundation for real-time remittance settlement.
The Regulatory Context
The partnership benefits from Nigeria’s evolving regulatory framework around remittances. The Central Bank of Nigeria has implemented policies aimed at formalizing remittance inflows, including the RT200 FX Programme, which contributed to the 43.5% surge in official IMTO inflows in 2024.
By giving International Money Transfer Operators direct access to the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (now the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market), regulators have worked to converge official and parallel market rates, making formal channels more attractive to diaspora senders.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso attributed the improvement in remittances to recent economic reforms, noting a remarkable rise in monthly remittance inflows from $250 million earlier in 2024 to $600 million by September 2024.
What’s Next
The integration positions Sterling Bank to capture a larger share of Nigeria’s remittance flows as the country aims to channel more diaspora funds through official channels. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently highlighted that the $20.93 billion in 2024 remittances represented four times the value of Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment for the same period, underscoring remittances’ growing importance to Nigeria’s external finances.
For the estimated 17 million Nigerians abroad, the partnership represents a practical shift: sending money home just got faster, cheaper, and more transparent.
As Africa’s digital economy matures and formal financial channels strengthen, partnerships like Thunes-Sterling Bank signal how remittance infrastructure is being rebuilt—not around legacy money transfer models, but around instant, bank-to-bank rails that reflect how people actually want to move money.
