Thunes and Ontop have teamed up to allow businesses across America to offer real-time global payments, enabling remote workers to get paid instantly, anywhere.
Through this partnership, Ontop is optimising its financial services by providing freelancers and remote workers real-time access to their earnings, regardless of their location.
By using Thunes’s Direct Global Network, Ontop users can receive instant local currency payouts to bank accounts in markets such as Costa Rica, India, the Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam, and the UK, eliminating the delays and friction of traditional cross-border payments.
The ability to deliver funds in real time supports Ontop in accelerating the growth of its business customers in the US and Latin America. It also improves the lives of freelancers and remote workers, particularly in emerging markets, where fast, secure, and accessible cross-border payments are essential for everyday life.
By partnering, the two companies aim to deliver instant, cost-effective cross-border payments at scale, making the platform an optimal solution for freelance and remote worker payouts.
The collaboration follows Thunes' acquiring of money transmitter licences in 50 US states, announced in June 2025. The acquisition allowed the company to extend its global footprint while ensuring high standards of regulatory compliance and transparency. It also reinforced its commitment to better managing risk, equipping Thunes to drive innovation in cross-border payments and support businesses globally by improving its legal and operational foundation.
Leveraged the licences, Thunes could contract directly with American businesses for real-time cross-border payments, via its Direct Global Network, which reached over 130 countries and supported 80 currencies.
The evolving landscape for freelancers
The collaboration comes at a time when freelance work is surging and global hiring is more common than ever. Statistics estimate the number of self-employed workers globally to be 1.57 billion people, approximately 47% of the worldwide workforce. The global freelance platform market is expected to grow by more than 16% each year from 2024 to 2030.
