Atlas Mara, a sub-Saharan Africa financial services firm, and Visa, a global payments technology company, have signed a partnership deal that is expected ease access to electronic payments in the sub-Saharan Africa region.

Through this partnership, Atlas Mara’s banks will be able to leverage already existing Visa payment platforms, such as mVisa and Visa Direct, to provide their customers new ways of transacting that are convenient, and secure, the firm said in a statement on Friday.

Chidi Okpala, the Atlas Mara chief digital officer, said the partnership will enable them deliver innovative services to accelerate financial inclusion and serve customers more efficiently. "Through our partnership with Visa, Atlas Mara will be able to offer a suite of digital and mobile payment solutions for the everyday payment needs of our expanding customer base across Africa,” he said.

Atlas Mara has a controlling stake in BPR, Rwanda’s largest bank in terms of branch network.

Speaking at the deal signing, Andrew Torre, the Kenya-based Visa sub-Saharan Africa manager, said the partnership enables Atlas Mara to deploy Visa’s global assets and payment solutions across its operations. He added that it has the potential to transform commerce, mobile payments and financial inclusion across Africa.

"Atlas Mara is a driving force for the provision of better, more innovative and reliable financial services across the continent,” Torre said of the financial services institution that listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In 2016, Visa launched mVisa, a new mobile payment service that brings, for the first time in Africa, an interoperable, versatile and secure mobile payment solution, powered by Visa and its partner financial institutions. With mVisa, consumers can directly access their funds in their bank accounts to pay merchants or individuals. Because the transaction runs through the Visa network, VisaNet, the consumers and merchants do not need to be customers of the same bank or mobile operator.

According to Torre, Visa Direct will provide cardholders the ability to transfer funds seamlessly, quickly and securely over any channel, including personal computers, mobile phones, local bank branches or ATMs, and can be funded from many sources like bank accounts or payment cards.