Their role is both significant and indispensable. Yet, despite this considerable contribution, many continue to operate below their full potential, constrained not by ambition or capability, but by structural barriers that limit their ability to scale.

This tension between potential and constraint was at the heart of discussions I participated in last month in London, at the “Leveraging Youth Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship” event on the sidelines of President Tinubu’s UK–Nigeria State Visit.

Convened in partnership with Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth Development, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and the UK Department for Business and Trade, the gathering brought together policymakers, investors, and operators from both countries.

The message was clear: Nigeria’s SMEs and youth-led businesses represent one of the country’s most powerful levers for economic transformation, but unlocking that potential will require more deliberate and coordinated support.

As things stand, SMEs in Nigeria continue to face a set of well-defined and persistent constraints. Access to financing is still uneven, particularly for businesses without the collateral or operating history traditional institutions require.

Market access remains fragmented, making it difficult for many to reach customers beyond their immediate environment.

Infrastructure challenges, from inconsistent power supply to limited logistics networks, continue to drive up the cost of doing business, while uneven access to digital tools leaves many operating without the systems needed to scale effectively.

There is, however, a strong and concentrated effort to address these issues. SMEDAN is increasingly focused on providing practical support, connecting businesses to mentorship, improving access to funding, and working to close some of these structural gaps.

In parallel, the Ministry of Youth Development is investing in long-term capacity building through initiatives like the Nigerian Youth Academy, which has already enrolled over 400,000 young people across digital and physical platforms.

This domestic effort is also being reinforced by growing international engagement, particularly from the United Kingdom.

As a global financial hub, the UK plays a huge role as a supporting partner by bringing depth in capital markets, regulatory clarity, and access to global networks that Nigerian businesses can leverage as they scale.

This corridor has clearly been successful, with London now hosting more Africa-headquartered companies on its Stock Exchange than New York, and UK investors accounting for a significant share of capital inflows into Nigeria, supporting an ecosystem that has produced 75% of Africa’s unicorns.

Importantly, this engagement is evolving beyond capital into more structured forms of collaboration. Initiatives such as the UK–Nigeria Tech Hub continue to build talent and support founders, while digital access programmes are expanding connectivity and enabling participation in the digital economy.

The planned UK-supported startup sandbox in Nigeria is particularly noteworthy, as it reflects a shift toward creating environments where innovation can be tested and scaled within a supportive regulatory framework.

However, while the alignment between local and international governments and their agencies is encouraging and clearly underscores and validates the strength and potential of Nigerian startups, it cannot carry the full weight of what is required.

Government initiatives and international partnerships can lay the groundwork, but sustained growth will depend on how actively the private sector builds on that foundation.

What is needed is a broader, ecosystem-wide commitment by the private sector to build the structures and services that enable growth, particularly for SMEs. Without this, many SMEs will remain constrained, isolated, and unable to compete at scale.

For example, take financial services, particularly cross-border payments, which is an area where progress has been made, but not yet at the pace required. For many SMEs, the ability to move money efficiently across borders remains a significant constraint.

Traditional banking systems are often not designed with smaller businesses in mind, requiring extensive documentation, limiting access to foreign exchange, and introducing delays that can stretch transactions over several days or even weeks.

In response, fintech providers like Verto, are building more tailored alternatives, solutions that remain secure and compliant, while simplifying onboarding for SMEs and enabling access to faster, more cost-effective payment rails.

Reducing this friction is critical, as it allows businesses to operate more efficiently and engage more confidently in international trade.

The same approach needs to be applied more broadly. Access to funding cannot continue to depend on collateral-heavy models that exclude otherwise viable businesses; more practical indicators like cash flow and transaction history need to be taken seriously.

At the same time, technology should work for SMEs, not overwhelm them, tools need to be simple, affordable, and built around how these businesses actually operate day to day.

Market access also has to become more deliberate, with clearer and more reliable routes into supply chains, export markets, and procurement opportunities, rather than leaving businesses to navigate these paths alone.

Alongside this, addressing everyday infrastructure constraints, whether through shared logistics, embedded services, or practical partnerships, can significantly reduce the operational burden that slows growth.

At the end of the day, supporting SMEs is not an act of charity; it is a mutually beneficial business opportunity with wide-reaching economic outcomes.

These businesses are already creating value at scale, driving employment, expanding markets, and building solutions to real challenges. The opportunity now is to ensure the environment around them evolves just as deliberately, to ensure sustained growth and scale.

With the ability to open a USD account in their own business name and access to trusted emerging market payment rails, companies can now receive, hold, and transfer funds faster, more cost-effectively, and with greater control.

US-registered businesses with operations in Africa often encounter significant banking limitations, with US banks frequently delaying or blocking transactions to or from African markets, imposing high or hidden FX costs, and offering limited access to Emerging Market payment corridors.

Businesses without a US bank account registered in their own name must rely on fragmented tools or intermediaries to move funds to Africa, creating operational inefficiencies and slowing growth.

Verto’s new solution directly addresses these challenges by giving US-domiciled businesses access to named USD accounts and a robust cross-border payment infrastructure, enabling them to move funds and settle transactions in local currencies with speed and efficiency.

Built for venture-backed startups, import-export SMEs, and investors funding emerging market innovation, this solution will enable clients to:

• Receive funds directly into a named USD business account from US based customers or investors
• Convert and settle between USD and local currencies such as NGN and KES quickly and at lower cost
• Hold, receive, and pay in 48 currencies from a single dashboard
• Pay contractors, suppliers, and offshore teams instantly via local payment rails
• Equip teams with virtual cards to spend in 11 currencies without fees
• Leverage specialised onboarding and monitoring that navigates both US and African regulatory requirements

By combining US and African compliance expertise, Verto’s Business Accounts empowers companies to maintain a US domestic presence for investors, customers, and suppliers while using deep-liquidity rails to pay global contractors and settle trades in local currencies efficiently, ensuring uninterrupted trade, payroll, and investment flows, without the risk of blocked or delayed transactions.

“We believe founders building across borders should not be constrained by the limitations of traditional banking,” said Ola Oyetayo, CEO of Verto. “Providing named accounts in the US empowers businesses with the funds they need to operate globally, connecting the US and Africa more efficiently without friction.”

With over 8 years of experience and $25 billion in annual global cross border transaction volume, Verto continues to provide the infrastructure, expertise, and trusted payment rails businesses need to operate confidently across borders and scale globally.

The event, hosted by Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth Development and The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), concentrated on the theme “Leveraging Youth Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship”; and  featured a keynote address by Verto’s Co-Founder and CEO, Ola Oyetayo.

Delivered in partnership with ODBA and the Institute of Directors (IoD), the event brought together investors, operators, and key stakeholders from both countries, all committed to supporting Nigeria’s growing startup ecosystem.

Speakers included:

• Ayodele Olawande – Minister of Youth Development, Nigeria
• Charles Odii – Director General, SMEDAN
• Khalil Suleiman Halilu – Director General, NASENI
• Hannah Williams – Director, UK Department for Business and Trade

The discussions highlighted the scale and momentum of youth entrepreneurship and SMEs in Nigeria, while addressing the challenges founders face.

It showcased how government agencies, development partners, and ecosystem stakeholders are actively creating opportunities to support Nigerian youth and founders, from access to funding and capacity building to scaling into global markets.

Commenting on the event, Ola Oyetayo, Co-Founder and CEO of Verto said: “Verto was founded in London with a clear mission: to connect African businesses with the world and help them scale globally. In many ways, we are a living example of the UK–Nigeria relationship in action. 

“By enabling SMEs to move money seamlessly across borders, we’re not only simplifying business operations, but empowering entrepreneurs to grow beyond local markets and participate fully in the global economy,” he continued. 

Against the backdrop of the enduring UK–Nigeria relationship, the event underscored the role of cross-border collaboration in driving sustainable growth, innovation, and investment, reflecting a partnership built on shared interests and mutual economic benefit.

But then here we are in 2026, with global cross-border payments now worth well over $190 trillion a year, and the average transfer still slower and more expensive than it has any right to be.

The irony is hard to miss. You can hire a developer in Nairobi before lunch, ship goods from Shenzhen by evening, and sign a contract over WhatsApp. 

But paying that same developer, supplier, or student on time can still take days, sometimes weeks, with fees stacked along the way.

We’ve seen founders plan cash flow around bank delays, and freelancers price in losses before the money even moves. That issue shows up in rent, inventory, and missed deadlines.

What is changing is not the need to move money, but who is fixing the situation. Banks are still arguing about processes built in the 1970s. The fintechs that are indispensable in 2026 are not arguing, they are rerouting, cutting out steps, locking rates upfront, settling in minutes instead of days, and building for people whose lives already cross borders, even when their banks do not.

This is a list of fintechs that are measurably reducing expenses, time, and uncertainty in how money moves across countries.

Some do it at scale, others do it with focus, but all of them are changing outcomes.

These are the fintechs making cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and harder to ignore in 2026.

1. Grey Finance

Grey Finance earns its place on this list because it understands that the future of work is borderless, but money movement is not. 

In 2026, that gap is where we find value. Grey has built itself directly inside it. By expanding beyond Africa into Latin America and Southeast Asia, and wiring itself into local payment ecosystems through partners like dLocal, Grey is going beyond adding countries to a map. 

It is redesigning how emerging-market talent gets paid, spends, and plans across borders, without losing value to intermediaries.

What makes Grey unique is not speed alone, but its vision. The platform is built for people whose income and lives span currencies, including freelancers, remote workers, founders, and SMEs earning globally but spending locally. 

Multi-currency accounts, wallet-to-bank transfers, and transparent FX pricing are the foundation here. In markets where traditional remittance fees are still between 7 and 10%, Grey’s model materially changes results. 

Faster settlement means better cash flow. Lower fees mean real income retained. For millions of users, that difference is economic.

By the end of 2025, Grey had done the hard work, regulatory coverage across key corridors, compliance with FinCEN and FINTRAC, and infrastructure capable of supporting payments to more than 170 countries via ACH and SWIFT. 

Add a growing SME product, Grey Business, and ecosystem initiatives like its support for women-led companies, and the reason it’s among game-changing fintechs in 2026 becomes more obvious. 

Grey is building the default financial layer for a generation that no longer thinks in national terms. In 2026, that focus makes it unavoidable.

2. Oneremit

Oneremit is a game-changer precisely because it refuses to dramatise payments. In an industry obsessed with speed brags and attractive dashboards, Oneremit chose certainty. 

For African businesses trying to operate globally, that choice is more important than anything else. By 2025, the platform had already processed over $60 million in transactions, enabling SMEs in Nigeria to send money to more than 100 countries with clarity on cost, timing, and compliance. 

With long delays and guesswork known as a challenge within this market, that reliability is disruptive.

Under the leadership of Hammed Afenifere, Oneremit has focused on infrastructure rather than spectacle. The concierge model shows a deep understanding of its users, businesses that care less about interfaces and more about knowing their payments will land, cleanly and compliantly. 

In reducing multi-step banking chains into a single, controlled process, Oneremit has cut settlement times from days to minutes. Fees drop. Planning becomes possible. Growth stops being hostage to payment friction.

Looking into 2026, Oneremit’s positioning becomes even more interesting. Its investments in smart routing, compliance-first operations, and selective use of blockchain rails put it in prime position for the next phase of cross-border payments, hybrid systems where automation, stable liquidity, and regulatory confidence coexist. 

While others go after novelty, Oneremit is building products that scale quietly. In payments, quiet is not a weakness, it’s how trust compounds. And trust, in 2026, is the real currency.

3. Pay4Me (Radius)

Pay4Me is among game-changing fintechs making cross-border payments faster and cheaper in 2026 because it focuses on a category most fintechs underestimate, and that is payments that cannot afford to fail. 

Tuition deadlines, visa fees, immigration charges, these are not flexible transactions. A delay does not mean inconvenience but can mean lost admission, expired status, or derailed plans. 

Built from the lived experience of its founder, Pay4Me addresses a problem traditional banks and generic remittance apps were never designed to solve, and that’s fast, compliant, cross-border payments for global mobility.

Through specialisation in education and immigration workflows, Pay4Me has achieved what broad platforms struggle with, same-day or near-instant settlement for highly regulated, consumer-to-institution payments. 

Allowing users to pay in local currencies removes a major limitation for students across Africa, where access to foreign exchange is still constrained. The result goes beyond speed to dignity, users meet deadlines without begging banks or agents for exceptions.

By late 2025, Pay4Me had onboarded over 100,000 users, processed more than $11 million in volume, and supported payments to over 1,000 institutions worldwide. 

Backing from programmes like Techstars and Village Capital helped strengthen its infrastructure, but the main focus is its evolution into Radius, a broader financial mobility platform offering accounts, cards, and credit-building tools. 

In 2026, cross-border movement will continually increase and Pay4Me is going beyond just helping people pay fees, to becoming the financial starting point for citizens globally.

4. Juicyway

Juicyway is attacking the limitations in African cross-border payments, especially in terms of liquidity. Foreign exchange scarcity, opaque pricing, and slow settlement are not edge cases, they are the system. 

Juicyway’s liquidity-first marketplace directly matches FX demand and supply in real time, reducing dependence on correspondent banks and compressing settlement cycles that typically stretch two to five days down to minutes.

The scale it achieved is what makes it impossible to ignore in 2026. Operating largely in stealth until late 2024, Juicyway had already processed over $1.3 billion in FX volume across more than 25,000 transactions, without a public app or aggressive marketing. 

By late 2025, monthly transaction volumes were reported to be over $300 million, with a client base of 12,000+ businesses spanning importers, exporters, logistics firms, and FMCG operators. Retention above 85% points to the fact that users are not just testing the platform, but building around it.

What strengthens Juicyway’s long-term position is discipline. The company has maintained reported profitability, secured a Canadian MSB licence, and partnered with regulated banks and stablecoin infrastructure providers to support USD, CAD, GBP, and EUR corridors. 

With $3 million in pre-seed funding earmarked for API expansion and geographic growth into Francophone and Southern Africa, Juicyway is building itself into a core FX infrastructure layer. In 2026, with African trade straining under currency volatility, that build becomes essential.

5. Kuda

Kuda makes this list because of scale, and what it is now doing with it. Few African fintechs move as much money as Kuda does. 

In Q1 2025 alone, the digital bank processed ₦14.3 trillion (approximately $9.3 billion) in transaction volume and handled over 300 million transactions across its platform. 

That level of throughput changes the conversation. Cross-border payments are now a natural extension of daily banking behaviour.

After years of prioritising user growth, Kuda’s pivot towards sustainability has enhanced its international play. In rebuilding its remittance stack in-house and relaunching its multi-currency wallet in 2025, the company reduced third-party dependency and improved margins. 

With over 7 million users, Kuda is now converting scale into revenue, recording more paid transfers than free ones and projecting 40% revenue growth driven largely by cross-border and high-engagement services.

Looking to 2026, Kuda’s advantage is control. Licences secured in markets such as Canada and Tanzania prepare it for deeper diaspora corridors, while products like overdrafts, which saw ₦16.4 billion issued in Q1 2025, strengthen customer stickiness. 

In combining everyday banking, lending, and international transfers under one roof, Kuda is collapsing what used to be separate financial journeys. That convergence is exactly how cross-border payments become cheaper, faster, and habitual.

6. Cashwise Finance

Cashwise Finance is earlier-stage, but its numbers already show vision backed by execution. In its first year of operation, the platform processed over 80,000 transactions, moving more than $3 million and ₦15 billion across borders. 

For a newly launched product focused on testing, feedback, and infrastructure hardening, those figures reveal early trust, the most difficult currency to earn in payments.

Cashwise spent 2025 tightening the engine. Real-time iteration, edge-case handling, and compliance workflows took precedence over aggressive expansion. That focus shows in its product direction, with multi-currency wallets, faster settlement outside SWIFT rails, and partnerships aimed at ensuring last-mile delivery rather than just outbound transfers. 

For freelancers and SMEs who rely on predictable cash flow, minutes are important, and Cashwise is building for that.

What makes Cashwise one to watch in 2026 is direction. The company is moving from proof to scale with a clear philosophy, and that is, people should stay connected to their money wherever life takes them. 

With foundations laid and volumes already validating demand, the next phase is expansion, into new corridors, deeper SME tooling, and a broader payments ecosystem. In cross-border finance, that sequence, trust first, growth second, is often what separates survivors from leaders.

7. Verto

Among the game-changing fintechs making cross-border payments faster and cheaper in 2026 is Vert, a Fintech that operates where cross-border payments are hardest and most valuable; high-value, time-sensitive trade flows in emerging markets. 

In 2025, the company made a transition from being a specialist FX provider to becoming infrastructure.

It opened a Lagos office to anchor West African operations, expanded its B2B FX marketplace to cover over 190 countries and nearly 50 currencies, and doubled down on regulatory engagement. 

These were more about owning liquidity and trust in markets where both are scarce.

Looking at the economics, connecting directly to local payment rails, Verto dramatically undercuts legacy banking expenses. A frequently noted comparison shows a 2 million ZAR transaction costing roughly R10,000 via Verto versus over R76,000 through traditional banks, a difference that materially changes margins for importers and exporters. 

Near-instant, 24/7 settlement replaces the multi-day delays of SWIFT, while rate locks help businesses manage volatility in currencies like NGN, KES, ZAR, and XOF. For companies operating on thin margins, this is way beyond optimisation.

What makes Verto especially relevant in 2026 is scale plus embed-ability. In 2025, it launched the Verto Atlas Suite, an API-first embedded finance product that allows other platforms to plug directly into its rails. 

Expansion into the UAE, licensed under the Dubai Financial Services Authority, strengthened trade corridors linking Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, regions that collectively process tens of billions of dollars in annual trade flows. 

With a growing team of 200+ staff, on-the-ground presence in Lagos, and hybrid infrastructure spanning fiat and emerging rails, Verto is moving money and becoming part of how emerging-market trade works.

8. FlashChange

FlashChange is one of the game-changing fintechs making cross-border payments faster and cheaper in 2026 because it is silently aligning with how cross-border payments are actually evolving. 

In 2025, the platform moved beyond being a niche digital asset trader and launched FlashChange V2, consolidating crypto transactions, gift cards, bill payments, airtime, and data into a single system. 

The strategic focus is that users do not want separate tools for value storage, spending, and cross-border movement. They want speed, clarity, and reliability, instantly.

What differentiates FlashChange in 2026 is its focus on real-world utility rather than speculation. By leveraging blockchain rails for settlement, the platform avoids the multi-hop delays and high fees associated with traditional banking. 

Transactions clear near-instantly, and costs are materially lower because intermediaries are stripped out. In regions where inflation, FX scarcity, and payment friction are daily occurrences, that speed is more important than ideology. This is crypto used as infrastructure, not stories.

Trust and compliance are where FlashChange has been careful. In September 2025, the company joined the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), revealing alignment with emerging regulatory and security standards. 

With cross-border payments across Africa edge toward a trillion-dollar opportunity, platforms that can safely bridge digital assets and everyday payments will be essential. 

FlashChange’s hybrid positioning, between traditional finance and blockchain-enabled settlement, places it squarely in the flow of where payments are heading in 2026.

9. LemFi

LemFi stands out here because it has moved faster than most, and stayed licensed while doing so. By 2025, the company had evolved from a focused remittance app into a multi-product financial platform serving diaspora communities across Africa, Europe, North America, and Asia. 

Backed by a $53 million Series B, LemFi expanded to 27+ send-from markets, added Asian corridors including India, Pakistan, and China, and built infrastructure capable of handling over $1 billion in monthly transaction volume.

The platform’s differentiation is not just low or zero fees, but velocity and control. A large share of transfers settle instantly or within minutes, supported by partnerships with local banks and mobile money operators. 

LemFi’s acquisition of Pillar in mid-2025 brought about credit products for immigrants, a segment usually excluded from traditional financial systems, while new services like LemFi Credit reportedly attracted over 50,000 applications in early rollout. This is remittance evolving into financial inclusion at scale.

What places LemFi strongly for 2026 is independence. In securing its own European licences, including in Ireland, the company reduced reliance on third-party sponsors for operations in the UK and Germany. 

New partnerships, such as enabling instant transfers to tens of millions of mobile wallet users in recipient markets, deepen last-mile delivery. With active user rates reported around 70% among early adopters, LemFi has proven that speed, pricing, and trust can coexist. In a sector still taken over by slow incumbents, that combination is what turns growth into leadership.

10. Comviva

Comviva earns its place on this list not because it is new, but because of the scale it operates at, and what it proved in 2025. 

By October 2025, Comviva’s mobiquity Pay platform was processing over $400 billion in transactions annually, spanning 55+ countries and supporting billions of transactions each year across digital wallets, remittances, and merchant payments. 

The company’s defining moment came in 2025 when it won the IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Innovation Award for “Best-in-Class Cross-Border Payments” for its deployment with Global Money Exchange Company (GMEC) in Oman. 

The Global Pay Oman app, powered by mobiquity Pay, transformed a traditional remittance service into a full digital wallet and payments platform, combining international transfers, local payments, bill pay, and FX services in one interface. 

This “super app” approach reduced settlement times, cut operational costs, and materially improved transaction success rates through AI-led payment orchestration.

Why Comviva becomes especially important in 2026 is replication. With an estimated 24% share of the global mobile money market, its technology already underpins financial services for millions of users in emerging markets. 

The Oman deployment now serves as a blueprint for rolling out similar cross-border wallet ecosystems across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. With regulators pushing for faster, cheaper, and more inclusive payment systems, Comviva’s ability to deliver real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments at scale positions it more as infrastructure.

11. Clea

Clea targets one of Africa’s most painful and under-served problems, which is paying international suppliers reliably as an importer. 

In late 2025, the company officially launched from stealth after a pilot phase that processed over $4 million in cross-border transactions, validating demand for a faster, more transparent alternative to traditional bank wires and informal FX channels.

Unlike consumer remittance apps, Clea is built for trade. It uses blockchain-based settlement rails to allow African businesses to convert local currency, including naira, into USD and pay suppliers directly, usually clearing transactions same day or next day, rather than waiting several days through SWIFT. 

Payments are executed in the importer’s own name, reducing compliance red flags and trust gaps that frequently delay shipments or trigger reversals in international trade.

What makes Clea one to watch in 2026 is focus and timing. Africa faces an estimated $120 billion trade finance gap, with SMEs locked out of FX access by slow banks, high spreads, and opaque processes. In 2025, Clea established active corridors to key import hubs, the United States, China, and the UAE, and launched iOS and Android apps designed specifically for traceable, business-grade payments. 

The company has grown in a bootstrapped, capital-efficient way, prioritising unit economics and real usage over hype.

Clea is scaling across Nigeria’s 36 states and expanding payout routes beyond West Africa in 2026, it is not building itself as a wallet, but as a payments layer embedded directly into supply chains.

The ceremony, held on Friday, November 21, in Lagos, brought together investors, industry leaders, media, and entrepreneurs to celebrate startups enhancing local industries and strengthening Africa’s footprint in global commerce. 

The winners, Dingpay, Aquatrack, and Growwr, were presented with cash prizes ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, alongside access to international suppliers and the infrastructure to scale beyond local markets.

Dingpay, a fintech innovator creating an “offline-first” digital wallet that consolidates bank cards, identity documents, tickets, and payments, claimed the $10,000 grand prize. 

Speaking on the win, co-founder Itohowo Udofia said, “We are honoured to be recognised as the winner of the Verto Award. This prize will enable us to scale faster, strengthen our operations, and unlock new market opportunities. It’s an incredible validation of our work, and we’re excited for what comes next.”

Aquatrack, an agritech startup providing AI-driven farm management tools for fish farmers, and Growwr, a platform enabling businesses to hire, manage, and pay pre-verified African tech talent efficiently, also walked away with commendable support to boost their growth.

The Verto Awards 2025 selection process, rigorous and thorough, involved a panel of distinguished judges assessing each startup’s innovation, scalability, feasibility, and potential market impact. 

The judging panel included Dotun Adekunle, COO/CTO of OPay; Ime Enang, CEO of The Conversationalist Limited; Omotayo Idowu, group head, Commerce & SME of Providus Bank; Soibi Ovia, partner at DAO Law; and Austin Okpagu, country manager, Verto Nigeria.

Ola Oyetayo, Verto’s co-founder and CEO, commented on the initiative: “This inaugural edition of the Verto Award has revealed just how much innovation, resilience, and global ambition exist within Africa’s early-stage startup ecosystem. 

“The calibre of founders we’ve seen this year has been exceptional. As these businesses grow, expand, and strengthen international ties, we remain committed to providing the financial infrastructure that helps turn their global ambitions into reality.”

Since its launch in February 2025, the Verto Award has aimed to spotlight startups with sector-agnostic potential, supporting them both financially and in gaining visibility, as well as granting access to the tools needed for cross-border growth.

The new hub, located at 21 Ahmed Onibudo Street, brings more than 25 staff onshore. It will oversee customer support, drive product development targeting West African markets, and enhance collaboration with banks, payment service providers, and regulators.

Verto said the decision to open in Lagos follows growing demand from businesses seeking an on-the-ground partner rather than a fully remote platform.

Over the years, Verto “has supported over 5,000 Nigerian and African businesses” and “processes more than $25 billion USD in annual global transactions today across 200+ countries and 49 currencies.”

How Verto Wants to Transform Global Payments for Fintechs, Online Marketplaces

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ola Oyetayo, noted the scale of the business, saying, “We do about $3 billion a month in transaction volume, you know. So it’s a lot of volume, 49 currencies.”

Country Director for Verto Nigeria, Austin Okpagu, described the launch as a long-term commitment to the Nigerian market.

“As Africa’s largest and most innovative fintech hub, Nigeria offers a dynamic environment for digital trade, entrepreneurship, and financial innovation, making it the natural anchor for Verto’s West African operations. 

“This hub allows us to respond faster to client needs, craft solutions tailored to local markets, and work even more closely with regulators and financial partners across the region.”

Oyetayo traced Verto’s beginnings to his years in the United Kingdom, where he began informally matching Nigerians abroad who wanted to invest at home with those in Nigeria who needed to pay for goods and services overseas.

“That’s really how Verto started, on WhatsApp, people would come to me saying, ‘I need $10,000,’ and I’d find someone who needed naira. I matched both of them together,” he said.

That origin story revealed why physical presence is now important. For several years, Verto deliberately maintained a low profile in Nigeria, preferring to prove its model first while navigating changing financial regulations. 

However, customers increasingly wanted local access, a physical office where they could resolve issues, speed up onboarding, and interact with a responsible team, especially amid Nigeria’s volatile FX cycles.

Local partners also backed the decision, as the CEO from Paga described the working relationship as creative and solution-driven:

“We’ve been able to call on you guys and say, here’s what we’re thinking about. Can we think about it together? And they’ve been very creative about how to resolve.”

A technology customer added that Verto’s pricing structure and reliability had simplified operations:

“Within a month, at least, making transactions and payments to suppliers all around the world… I like the fact that I don’t have to haggle. The price is the price. Could it be better? Can always be better, right? But it makes it so much easier for my team to validate their pricing, knowing that there’s one place they get the pricing and they plug it in, and it makes our workflow a lot more.”

At the launch of the new Verto Lagos office, the company outlined three operational priorities for its Lagos team: stronger customer relationships, tailored product development (including the rollout of Verto Atlas), and enhanced naira liquidity through deeper partnerships with local banks and payment processors.

The CEO stressed that the office represents a sustained investment, not a publicity move. He also emphasised the importance of trust and compliance, noting that the company values reliability over short-term pricing gains.

The event, featuring live product demos, customer testimonials, and open discussions about collaboration, brought together long-time customers, banking partners, regulators, and fintech stakeholders.

Verto said the Lagos team will focus on improving onboarding times, expanding collection and payout solutions, and optimising account services in the coming months.

The new office is a focus from a purely digital, global fintech model to a hybrid approach, platform scale supported by local expertise. In Nigeria, where trust and physical presence are essential to business relationships, that transition could prove decisive.

The new Verto Lagos office is located at 21 Ahmed Onibudo Street, Victoria Island. The company operates globally with offices in London, Cape Town, Nairobi, Pune, Dubai, New York, and Malta, and supports over 49 currencies across multiple African and international markets.

The company, which processes over $25 billion annually for clients including Unilever and Maersk, aims to simplify cross-border payments between the UAE and key emerging market currency corridors, particularly in Africa.

Through its innovative platform, Verto provides businesses with a faster, more secure, and cost-efficient solution for managing high-value, time-sensitive international transactions.

“The UAE is a pivotal hub for global commerce, and businesses here demand solutions as dynamic as their operations,” says Helen Ghebreluul, Verto’s UAE country manager. “Our platform is built to handle the high-value, time-sensitive nature of these transactions, particularly in emerging markets in Africa. We’re not just a service; we’re a critical partner, ensuring that a company’s payments move as fast and reliably as their business.”

Verto’s platform combines local operations in the UAE with robust payment rails across key markets, offering a best-in-class workflow.

This unique model is particularly beneficial for businesses trading along key corridors, including the UAE to Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, West Africa, and China.

Businesses using Verto’s solutions can expect to experience:

• Fast settlement: The platform enables instant or near-instant payments, which is vital for a sector where delayed payments can stall the entire supply chain. Verto’s efficient payment rails allow for settlements in hours rather than days.
• FX risk management: Verto provides competitive and transparent foreign exchange (FX) rates, offering businesses hedging options and flexibility. For instance, companies can lock in favorable rates to protect against currency volatility. The platform also features a multi-currency account to hold money in different wallets and an Auto Exchange feature to automatically execute trades at an ideal rate.
• Transparency and traceability: The platform allows users to track payments from end-to-end, reducing issues where payments are lost in transit. It also eliminates hidden fees and spreads often associated with traditional banking.

“Businesses are the lifeblood of global supply chains, but they face constant challenges from currency volatility and slow, traditional payment systems,” says Ola Oyetayo, CEO and co-founder of Verto. “Verto empowers these businesses by giving them the tools to mitigate FX risk, accelerate settlements, and optimize their cash flow. We believe in providing global reach with local strength, leveraging our expertise in key emerging markets to ensure that wherever a company’s goods go, their payments follow instantly and securely.”

Verto’s Dubai branch, which has an expanding team, is located in the Emirates Financial Tower, DIFC, Dubai, UAE.

Verto is authorized by the Dubai Financial Services Authority for providing money services, advising or arranging money services, and carrying on authorized Financial Services with or for Retail Clients Holding or Controlling Client Assets.

This innovative tool allows users to set their desired exchange rate and trade amount within the Verto platform, enabling automatic execution when the Verto rate reaches their specified level.

Recognizing that many businesses prioritize achieving the most favorable exchange rates and often spend valuable time tracking market fluctuations, Auto Exchange provides a seamless and efficient solution.

By automating the monitoring and execution process, Verto empowers customers to capture their target rates even when they are not actively logged into the platform. With this, they can optimise their time, while reducing missed opportunities.

“We’re thrilled to introduce Auto Exchange, a feature designed to bring both efficiency and peace of mind to our customers’ FX operations,” says Verto Product Director Tomasz Bilakiewicz. “No more constant refreshing or fear of missing a target rate. With Auto Exchange, businesses can set their parameters and trust Verto to execute automatically, allowing them to focus on what truly matters – growing their business.”

How Auto Exchange Works

Verto users can easily set up Auto Exchange orders within the platform by specifying:

• The currency pair for exchange.
• Their desired target exchange rate.
• The amount they wish to exchange.
• The direction of the exchange (e.g., GBP to USD).

Customers can now fully utilize idle funds sitting in various currency wallets and accounts, achieving interest earnings of up to 10% and offering a unique opportunity for businesses to optimize their treasury management.

With Verto Reserve, customers can seamlessly open interest-earning accounts in Nigerian Naira (NGN), and Kenyan Shilling (KES) with just a few clicks.

This eliminates the need to have a local entity in these countries to benefit from local currency interest rates.

Businesses can now manage their cross-border payments and simultaneously take advantage of interest-earning savings and treasury management, all within Verto’s unified platform.

Verto is offering the Reserve product with financial institutions partners that have the necessary licenses in Kenya and Nigeria to provide deposit-taking services.

“We understand that businesses operating globally often hold significant balances in various currencies,” says Verto CTO Anthony Oduu. “Verto Reserve is designed to make those funds work harder. We’re thrilled to offer a truly unique all-in-one solution that allows our customers to earn interest in key African and G10 currencies, even if they don’t have a local presence in those markets.”

With Verto Reserve, Verto is an all-in-one solution, offering a powerful combination of seamless payment processing and attractive interest-earning opportunities.

The prestigious $1 million award that recognises companies expanding access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets, was presented at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles on 5 May.

Verto’s winning platform enables businesses in emerging markets to seamlessly send and receive payments across borders, including exotic currencies in emerging markets.

By eliminating intermediary fees, supporting 49 currencies, and ensuring rapid transaction settlement in markets where this was not previously possible, Verto is helping businesses and SMEs in underserved markets access economic prosperity and greater financial inclusion.

The Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech, a $2 million initiative by the Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation, attracted over 3,000 entrepreneurs from 126 countries.

Verto emerged as the winner after a rigorous multi-stage evaluation process that assessed affordability and accessibility, ethical practices, scalability, technological innovation, and the potential for equitable financial access.

Launched in May 2024, the prize saw 400 initial applications narrowed down to 10 semifinalists who pitched their innovations at the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi in December 2024. Verto was selected as one of three finalists, ultimately claiming the Grand Prize.

“Winning the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech validates our mission to break down barriers in cross-border payments but also provides us with the resources and recognition to accelerate our efforts in empowering businesses across emerging markets. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire Verto team,” says Ola Oyetayo, Verto CEO.

Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, co-founder and CEO of the Motsepe Foundation, commented, “Across the African continent, technology and innovation are disrupting traditional finance and banking approaches. Investment in this space is profitable and, more importantly, necessary for financial inclusion. My heartfelt congratulations to the winners and all the finalists for demonstrating feasible and impactful solutions that will drive economic activity and shared prosperity in the global South, while influencing the financial sector all over the world.”

This FinTech prize marks the third award under the Milken–Motsepe Innovation Prize Program, which has awarded over $6 million to more than 50 innovators since 2021. Participating teams have collectively raised nearly ten times the Grand Prize in additional investments, impacting over 530,000 community members globally.

About Verto: Verto is a UK-based business-to-business cross-border payments platform that simplifies international transactions for businesses, particularly those in emerging markets. By offering fast, secure, and cost-effective payment solutions across 49 currencies, Verto empowers businesses to thrive in the global economy.