Atoa Payments Limited, a leading provider of open banking-enabled payments, has secured regulatory approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate as an Authorised Payment Institution (API).
This milestone marks a significant step in Atoa’s rapid expansion, allowing the company to extend its innovative payment services to larger businesses across the UK.
Since its launch in 2022, Atoa is helping reshape the payments landscape for SMEs, helping thousands of businesses slash payment processing costs by up to 50% compared to traditional card payments. Now, with FCA authorisation in hand, Atoa is accelerating its mission to bring fast, secure, and cost-effective payments to larger enterprises across multiple industries, including retail, hospitality, beauty, automotive, and professional services such as law firms.
By offering an easy alternative to both card payments and manual bank transfers, Atoa addresses key inefficiencies in the payments ecosystem. Unlike card payments, which come with high fees and slow settlement times, Atoa provides businesses with instant access to funds at a fraction of the cost. Meanwhile, compared to traditional bank transfers, Atoa reduces the administrative burden of tracking and reconciling payments while enhancing the overall payment experience for end customers.
“Before Atoa, we were paying thousands of pounds a month in payment fees… Since moving to Atoa, we’ve saved £6,000 a month in payment fees with up to 96% of payments going via Atoa now.” – Jason Drury, General Manager, Ponko Cars of Cambridgeshire
The FCA authorisation enables Atoa to offer a broader suite of regulated payment services, including:
Payment Initiation Services – Enabling direct, seamless payments from customers to businesses without reliance on card networks.
Virtual Account Services – Powering bulk settlement payouts for enterprise clients in collaboration with leading UK financial institution ClearBank.
Payment Account Information Services – Providing real-time transaction data insights for businesses.
“Atoa makes it easy for our customers to pay when they are going through a stressful situation… Thanks Atoa! You make fee collection simple!” – Joanna Toch, Founder & CEO, Family Law Café
Atoa’s Growth and Future Outlook
With backing from Valar Ventures, Passion Capital, and Leo Capital, Atoa has experienced surging demand from businesses seeking to modernise their payment infrastructure.
With FCA authorisation secured, Atoa is focused on enhancing its platform and expanding its suite of payment solutions to better serve businesses of all sizes. The company continues to invest in product development, ensuring merchants have access to secure, seamless, and cost-effective payment options that integrate smoothly into their existing operations. By strengthening its technology and infrastructure, Atoa aims to provide even greater reliability and efficiency in payments.
“This is a game-changing moment for Atoa,” said Sid Narayanan, CEO & Co-founder of Atoa. “From day one, our goal has been to help businesses break free from the high costs and inefficiencies of traditional payment methods such as debit cards and manual bank transfers. Achieving FCA authorisation is not just a regulatory milestone—it’s a springboard for scaling our impact. We’re now in a position to serve larger businesses with even more advanced payment capabilities, and we’re only just getting started.”