Singapore-based payments company Thunes has acquired a majority stake in the anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance technology firm Tookitaki following an investment of more than $20m in the firm.
Founded in November 2014, Singapore-based Tookitaki provides AML and compliance solutions to banks and financial institutions, using Big Data and machine learning (ML) technologies.
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The firm, which tracks over 180 million transactions annually, counts Moneygram, Western Union and Remitly, Grab, Deliveroo, Paypal, Singtel Dash, M-PESA, and Airtel among its customers.
It has over 100 people across Asia, Europe and the US.
The partnership with Thunes is expected to help Tookitaki to further expand its reach in core APAC markets, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.
Additionally, it will help the firm bolster compliance and AML capabilities to provide its customers with enhanced transparency around the payment flows.
As part of the deal, Thunes will add Tookitaki to its global network to enable payments and other financial institutions to automate and streamline their compliance processes while reducing risks and overall costs.
Thunes CEO Peter Caluwe said: “This alliance will give all Thunes customers access to next-generation tech compliance systems, reducing the cost of transferring money across borders.
“At the same time, all Tookitaki’s banking and fintech clients will automatically gain access to Thunes’ network, unlocking pathways to scale globally.”
Under the agreement, Thunes and Tookitaki businesses will continue to operate independently while collaborating to drive their global expansion.
Tookitaki CEO and founder Abhishek Chatterjee said: “Thunes is recognised for its far-reaching global network, and the alliance provides us with an ‘unfair’ opportunity to offer our proven and powerful AML solution to banks and fintechs across the fastest growing economies as well as the biggest.”
Recently, Thunes struck a partnership with Clearpay to offer enhanced buy-now-pay-later capabilities to its merchant network, payment service providers and marketplace partners.
