Atlas SUNRATE, a leading global payment and treasury management platform, has partnered with Verto, an FCA-regulated B2B cross-border payment provider. This long-term collaboration leverages Verto’s API to provide SUNRATE with a reliable, scalable, and compliant infrastructure for collecting and disbursing payments across Africa. By integrating Verto Atlas, SUNRATE has been able to offer its clients seamless, low-cost access to new markets, beginning with Nigeria and with plans to expand to Kenya and Tanzania.
The challenge
SUNRATE empowers companies worldwide with its cutting-edge proprietary platform, extensive global network, and robust APIs to operate and scale both locally and globally. However, a significant challenge emerged for their clients looking to transact in Africa: the fragmented and often unreliable nature of local payment infrastructure. Many businesses relied on informal or non-tech-enabled channels, leading to a number of critical problems:
The first challenge was a lack of reliability. Payments were frequently delayed or lost, and the use of informal channels exposed businesses to serious risks of default and a lack of transparency regarding the source of funds.
Existing solutions were also often country-specific, making it difficult and time-consuming for companies to expand their operations across multiple African markets. With scalability being instrumental to success, this was now ideal.
The absence of a strong regulatory framework in many local payment methods created significant compliance risks for both Sunrate and its clients.
The solution
To address these challenges, SUNRATE chose Verto as its strategic partner, with a relationship that deepened significantly in 2023. The key factor in this decision was Verto's unwavering commitment to compliance. As an FCA-regulated entity, Verto upholds a high standard of regulatory excellence, which directly aligns with SUNRATE core values and its clients’ need for secure and transparent financial infrastructure.
The partnership centered on the integration of Verto Atlas, a solution that provides:
Sub-account collection: SUNRATE could have virtual local bank accounts in African currencies in their own name.
Competitive FX: The ability to convert local funds at competitive, near-institutional rates.
Reliable payouts: Fast and secure payment disbursements.
This powerful combination, delivered through an industry-grade API, is embedded directly into SUNRATE’s product offering.
The impact
This collaboration has an immediate and tangible impact on SUNRATE’s customers.
They can now use SUNRATE’s platform, leveraging Verto's infrastructure, to instantly open a virtual local bank account in Nigeria, denominated in Nigerian Naira (NGN).
Nigerian distributors can now pay for their orders via a simple, low-cost local bank transfer in NGN, as they would with any domestic supplier. This eliminates a major barrier to trade and drastically simplifies the payment process.
Once the NGN funds are received, the manufacturer can instantly convert the funds to their preferred currency (CNY, USD, etc.) at highly competitive rates, directly increasing their profit margins on every sale.
The entire process is significantly faster, and the manufacturer maintains full visibility and control over their cash flow through the Sunrate platform.
A partnership for the future
This collaboration is not a one-off integration; it is a long-term strategic partnership aimed at powering SUNRATE’s entire Africa operation. While the initial focus has been on Nigeria, the partnership is set to expand into new markets like Kenya and Tanzania before the end of the year, with more to follow.
"What's truly innovative is that we're just scratching the surface. We're seeing a massive, growing demand from businesses for frictionless trade in Africa, and simultaneously proving that our API can meet that demand at scale. SUNRATE’s rapid growth in Nigeria is just the first chapter. The real excitement lies in our upcoming expansion into new markets, which will showcase how our technology enables rapid, secure, and compliant growth across the continent," says Verto VP for Enterprise Sales and Partnerships
