Thunes, the Singapore-based fintech company, and a leader in global cross-border payments, today announced it has appointed Irina Chuchkina as Chief Marketing Officer and Babul Balakrishnan as Head of Customer Care. Both executive hires will be based in Singapore and support Thunes’ global growth strategy.

These appointments follow the announcement of Thunes’ acquisition of Limonetik, a European Payment Methods Platform, which complements existing Thunes’ cross-border payments solutions in 115 countries by enabling businesses to get paid in 70 countries. The announcement also follows a number of strategic hires that the company made over the last 12 months, with some of the high-profile industry experts appointed to complement Thunes’ existing strong leadership team.

Chuchkina is an accomplished Fintech marketing leader with over 15 years of experience building world-class brands on the intersection of payments and technology across Europe and Asia. She will lead Thunes’ global marketing strategy laying the foundations of competitive brand positioning, looking at supporting top-line revenue growth, and overseeing key marketing initiatives.

Before joining Thunes, Chuchkina led global brand, communications, and social media marketing for Rapyd. She was also part of Southeast Asia super-app giant, Grab, where she helped to launch GrabPay, Grab’s mobile wallet, and GrabRewards, its loyalty platform. She also spent several years with Visa, where she was part of Visa’s Innovation Centre team and led its Marketing and Communications efforts across APAC. Chuchkina also serves as an Executive Committee Member in the Singapore Fintech Association. 

“Thunes is a fast-rising star in the payments industry and I am thrilled to be joining the company at this pivotal time. I believe that the company has immense potential and I  look forward to helping Thunes grow and build a brand synonymous with cross-border payments excellence, and secure the attention and credibility that it deserves” said Irina Chuchkina, CMO of Thunes.

Balakrishnan, also known as BK, has over two decades of experience across various industries with a focus on customer service and customer experience. In his most recent role as AVP of Customer Experience Operations at StarHub, Singapore’s leading telco, Balakrishnan was responsible for back-office operations and a team of field service technicians, for the company’s consumer business. Prior to that, at DHL eCommerce, BK was the founding member of two incubation startups as well as the regional lead for Customer Experience. In his new role, Balakrishnan will work with the various business units to elevate customer care into customer experience across Thunes’ partner network, which currently spans over 115 countries. 

“Thunes is currently at an inflection point of its global growth, and I’m excited to be part of this journey. My focus will be on building and forging strong network partnerships and enhancing the experience for all our customers,” said Babul Balakrishnan, Head of Customer Care at Thunes. 

“We have built the best-in-class industry team that is growing and cementing our leadership across all core functions. And we already know that we have all the elements to support our long-term leadership – highly competitive product capabilities, an incredible network, and a strong customer portfolio. Now is a great time for us to change the way we communicate the value we create to the world, and ensure that we deliver a world-class customer experience. Irina and BK come with extensive experience in their respective fields, and their expertise will be key to accelerating our growth plans,” said Peter De Caluwe, CEO of Thunes.