For licensed financial institutions, Verto offers the flexibility to facilitate payments for your own clients. To ensure these transactions clear global compliance checks without delay, you must explicitly identify the Underlying Sender.
It is vital to remember that these tools are only available to clients with Atlas/Downstream approval.
Approval Required: You must have written confirmation from Verto to process payments on behalf of your customers
Rejection Risk: If you attempt to provide POBO for a flow type you are not approved for, the payment will be automatically flagged and rejected.
Proprietary Only: If you are not approved for downstream flows, your account is restricted to proprietary (1st party) payments, such as your own payroll or vendor payments.
Processing of POBO flow without written approval will result in your Verto account being suspened without notice
Why This Step is Critical
Global financial regulations (such as AML and "Know Your Customer's Customer") require full transparency on the source of funds.
Avoid Delays: Transactions without underlying sender data are often flagged for manual review or "Request for Information" (RFI).
Compliance Integrity: It ensures both your institution and Verto remain compliant with international standards.
Transparency: Our banking partners need to see the "Economic Originator" of the funds, not just the intermediary institution.
Use Case Example
The Scenario:
A licensed Payment Service Provider (PSP) in Kenya has a merchant client, "Safari Electronics," that needs to pay a supplier in China for a bulk order of components.
The Workflow:
Safari Electronics deposits funds with the Kenyan PSP.
The Kenyan PSP uses their Verto account to send the funds to the Chinese supplier.
Because the PSP is the account holder but the merchant is the true sender, the PSP must fill out the Underlying Sender Details for "Safari Electronics."
2. A licensed Payment Service Provider (PSP) in Nigeria acts as an acquirer for international businesses. Their merchant client, "USA Tech Hub," has accumulated funds from local sales and needs to pay back to "USA Tech Hub"
The Workflow:
Merchant Settlement: Lagos Tech Hub settles their processing volume (or deposits Naira/USD) with the Nigerian PSP.
Verto Transaction: The Nigerian PSP uses their Verto Atlas account to initiate the cross-border payment to their US based customer.
Data Capture: Because the PSP is the Verto account holder, but Lagos Tech Hub is the true source of funds (the "Ultimate Sender"), the PSP must fill out the Underlying Sender Details for "Lagos Tech Hub" in the Verto portal.
In this case, both the sender and the beneficiary are both Lagos Tech Hub
🚨 When is this Information Required?
You must collect and provide this data in the following scenarios:
Payments to Your Own Customer: If you are using Verto to pay out funds directly to your customer base - as a withdrawal from an account you offer to them, or other similar type flow
Payments on Behalf of Your Customers: When you are initiating a transaction where your customer is the party whose funds are being moved to a third-party beneficiary.
Returning Funds: If you receive funds and need to return them to the original sender, that original party must be identified as the sender in the instruction.
If you mark a beneficiary as "Yes - This is my customerr" or "Yes - This is my customer's payee" this information is automatically mandatory when submited via the API.
When you don't need to provide this information:
Collection & Payout Services: If you use Verto Sub-Accounts to collect funds and then distribute them to your customer, that customer is the ultimate sender - we will automatically populate this information for you as long as you make the payment directly from the sub-account.
If you aggregate funds at the parent account level, before making the payment, follow the guidelines above for "Payments to Your Own Customer"
The payment is not connected to client activity in any way- referred to as "Own Funds"
How do I submit this information?
💻 Option 1: Via the Verto Web Dashboard (Manual Payments)
🛠️ Option 2: Via the Verto API (Automated Payments)
📊 Option 3: Via Bulk Payments (Uploads)
Step-by-Step Instructions on Platform
Initiate Payout: Start your transaction as you normally would on the Verto platform.
Upload Documentation: Attach the relevant invoices or supporting documents as prompted.
Identify the Sender: Before clicking "Confirm," locate the Underlying Sender Details section (found directly after the 'Purpose of Payment' field).
Toggle the Checkbox: Tick YES on the prompt: Is this payment relating to an underlying customer?"
Complete the Form: Provide the requested details, including:
Type: Individual vs Business.
Origination country
Full Legal Name of the underlying business or individual.
Customer identification number.
Residential Address of the underlying sender: Address line, City, Zip Code, Country.
Bank account number
Confirm: Proceed to complete the payment.
Submissions Via API (Automated Payments)
For institutions handling high-volume transactions, you can automate the "Underlying Sender" process via our API. This allows you to programmatically pass customer details within your payout payload, ensuring seamless compliance without manual entry.
How to access: Detailed schema definitions and field requirements for the underlying_sender object are available in our technical documentation. You will find specific instructions under the Payouts section.
Technical Documentation: View Verto API Reference
Quick Reference Summary
Feature | Requirement |
Eligibility | Strictly restricted to Licensed Financial Institutions. |
Mandatory Action | Always check YES on the "Underlying Sender" box if the funds belong to your client or submit via API. |
Risk of Omission | Payment may be held, reversed, or flagged for compliance review. |
Note: If you are ever in doubt about whether a specific transaction flow requires these details, please contact your Account Manager before initiating the transfer to prevent avoidable payment failures.