Global payments firm Visa has partnered Sub-Saharan African financial services group Atlas Mara to introduce a dynamic suite of payment solutions and expand access to electronic payments within the region.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Atlas Mara is present in seven African countries and uses technology to provide differentiated financial product offerings.

The partnership with Visa will see Atlas Mara's leverage existing Visa payment platforms, such as mVisa and Visa Direct, to provide their customers with new ways of transacting.

"Atlas Mara is a driving force for the provision of better, more innovative and reliable financial services to more Africans everywhere," said Andrew Torre, Group Country Manager for Visa Sub-Saharan Africa.

"Our partnership enables Atlas Mara to deploy Visa's global assets and payment solutions and has the potential to be transformational for commerce, mobile payments and financial inclusion across Africa."

The mVisa mobile payments service, launched last year, allows consumers to access their bank account funds to pay merchants or individuals via their mobile phones. Visa Direct, meanwhile, allows cardholders to transfer funds over any channel, including personal computers, mobile phones, local bank branches, or ATMs.

"Delivering innovative services to accelerate financial inclusion and more efficiently service our customers is one of our core strategies. Through our partnership with Visa, Atlas Mara will be able to offer a suite of digital and mobile payment solutions for the everyday payments needs of our expanding customer base across Africa," said Chidi Okpala, Chief Digital Officer at Atlas Mara.