Most B2B buyers assume payment and sourcing are the same decision: you find a supplier on a marketplace, so you pay through that marketplace. But sourcing and settlement are actually two separate problems, and treating them as one is exactly what makes cross-border trade slower and riskier than it needs to be. If you want to pay international suppliers safely, the platform where you found them shouldn't be the thing standing in your way.

You might find a supplier at a trade show. Through a personal referral. On a marketplace that has no built-in payment protection at all. In every one of those cases, the hardest part isn't finding the supplier — it's paying them safely, in the right currency, without losing money to hidden FX markups or wire transfer fees, and without wondering if the funds will actually be released only once the goods ship as agreed.

That's the part of the transaction Kingmansa Pay is built to solve, regardless of where the deal itself started.

The real risk isn't finding a supplier — it's paying one

Ask any importer who has wired money to a new overseas supplier what worried them most, and it's rarely "will I find the right factory." It's:

Will the funds arrive in the right currency, at a fair rate?
Is there any protection if the goods don't ship as agreed?
How many intermediary banks will take a cut before the supplier sees the money?
Will the payment even clear in time to hit a shipping window?

These questions don't go away just because you sourced a supplier through a trade show, a referral, or a marketplace with no payment infrastructure of its own. The payment risk is identical whether the deal started on a listing site or a handshake — and it's a well-documented problem across the industry, not unique to any one platform: correspondent banking is notorious for what one industry breakdown of cross-border payment friction calls the classic "fee mystery," where businesses can't predict what a payment will cost or when it will actually land.

How to pay international suppliers safely by decoupling sourcing from settlement

Kingmansa's supplier directory exists to help buyers discover and vet verified exporters. But the settlement layer — Kingmansa Pay — isn't limited to deals that start there. It's designed to work for any verified B2B trade relationship, which means:

Real-time FX rates instead of a bank's marked-up conversion rate
Secure escrow, so funds release on agreed terms rather than on trust alone
Local currency settlement across 190+ countries and 49+ currencies, so importers aren't forced to source USD or EUR just to pay a supplier
Lower total cost than routing a payment through multiple correspondent banks

In practice, that means a buyer who already has a trusted supplier relationship doesn't have to choose between "keep using our existing supplier" and "get payment protection." They can do both.

A corridor built on this idea already exists

This isn't theoretical. Kingmansa's partnership with Verto brings exactly this kind of local currency settlement to trade between Africa and Bangladesh — two of the fastest-growing trade corridors in global sourcing, and two regions where traditional banking rails are often slow, expensive, or simply unavailable for smaller trade volumes. Buyers and suppliers in that corridor can settle in local currency without either side absorbing unpredictable FX risk.

The same logic extends to any corridor: the friction in cross-border trade is rarely the sourcing conversation. It's everything that happens after both sides say yes.

What this looks like in practice

Agree terms with your supplier — wherever you found them.
Set up the payment through Kingmansa Pay, specifying currency, amount, and terms.
Funds sit in escrow until the agreed shipping or delivery milestone is met.
Supplier receives payment in their local currency, at a transparent FX rate, without stacking correspondent bank fees.

No requirement to route sourcing through Kingmansa's marketplace for buyers first. The settlement layer stands on its own.

Why this matters for buyers and exporters alike

For importers, it means supplier choice isn't constrained by which platforms happen to have payment tools built in. For exporters, it means faster, more predictable payment — which, as any exporter managing cash flow knows, is often the difference between accepting an order and turning it down.

Trade doesn't happen on one platform anymore. It happens across trade shows, referrals, marketplaces, and long-standing supplier relationships. Payment infrastructure should work the same way — available wherever the deal happens to start.

FAQ

Do I need to buy through Kingmansa's marketplace to use Kingmansa Pay?
No. Kingmansa Pay is built to support B2B trade payments for verified suppliers and buyers, independent of where the sourcing relationship began.

What currencies does Kingmansa Pay support?
Kingmansa supports settlement across 190+ countries and 49+ currencies, with local currency payout so suppliers aren't forced to accept USD or EUR.

How does escrow protection work?
Funds are held until agreed shipment or delivery terms are met, reducing the risk of paying upfront with no recourse.

Is this only available for the Africa–Bangladesh corridor?
That corridor, powered through Kingmansa's partnership with Verto, is live today, with the same local currency settlement model extending to other trade corridors as Kingmansa's payment network grows.

Ready to settle your next international trade payment safely?

Talk to the Kingmansa team →