By Kingsley Samuel
B2B global payments platform, Verto, has partnered with Visa to launch a multi-currency corporate card designed to help African businesses reduce foreign exchange costs and overcome payment challenges when transacting internationally.
The new Verto Card, according to the company, will enable businesses to spend directly from their Verto wallets across more than 11 currencies, while providing indirect access to over 160 others, with zero foreign exchange markups on eligible currencies.
The initiative targets some of the challenges confronting African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, SMEs, importers, Software-as-a-Service, SaaS, companies and digital businesses making cross-border payments, including hidden FX charges, single-currency restrictions and rejected international transactions.
Verto said many African businesses operating internationally have traditionally relied on corporate cards tied to a single settlement currency, exposing them to additional conversion costs whenever transactions are made in other currencies.
The company said the new card is linked directly to customers’ Verto wallets, eliminating the need to manually move funds between different currency wallets before making payments.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Verto, Ola Oyetayo, said the partnership with Visa was aimed at addressing some of the limitations businesses face with existing corporate card products.
According to him, “African businesses have been underserved by the card products that exist today. They are either locked into a single currency, hit by undisclosed fees, or declined at checkout because their card runs on prepaid rails.
“This new partnership with Visa reshapes corporate cards for international businesses, moving beyond the limitations of traditional banking and prepaid card structures, and expanding what is possible for global business transactions.”
Verto said customers would be able to transact directly in currencies including the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone and Swedish krona.
The company added that the card would be accessible to its customers globally and accepted across Visa’s network of about 150 million merchant locations.
For African businesses that regularly pay international suppliers, purchase software subscriptions or fund digital advertising campaigns, Verto said the multi-currency functionality could reduce the need for repeated currency conversions and associated charges.
The card also comes with security and expenditure controls, including 3D Secure authentication through one-time passwords or in-app confirmation.
Businesses can also control card usage according to date, time and merchant category, giving them greater oversight of corporate spending.
Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial and Money Movement at Visa, Shahebaz Khan, said the partnership would expand businesses’ access to modern cross-border payment capabilities.
He said: “The future of business payments lies in solutions that combine global connectivity with local innovation.
“Through our partnership with Verto, we are expanding access to modern payment capabilities that help businesses move money more efficiently, while enabling fintechs and financial institutions to deliver new value to their customers.”
Verto also disclosed plans to extend the platform through mobile wallet integration with Google Pay and introduce a Cards-as-a-Service, CaaS, offering through its Atlas infrastructure.
The planned service would allow fintech companies and banks to embed card issuance into their own platforms through white-label arrangements backed by Verto’s licensing infrastructure and Visa’s payment network.
Verto currently provides cross-border payments, foreign exchange and banking solutions to more than 10,000 businesses. The company said its platform enables customers to send and receive money in more than 190 countries, convert between 48 currencies and processes over $25 billion in transactions annually.
