API Reference›Identity (KYC)

Identity (KYC)

The Identity API lets you resolve a Bank Verification Number (BVN) to retrieve the associated personal details of a Nigerian bank account holder. Use this to perform Know Your Customer (KYC) checks during customer onboarding or before processing high-value transactions.

Provider support

BVN resolution is currently supported by Paystack only. Paystack provides this capability through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) NIBSS infrastructure. You must have Paystack configured as an active provider and your Paystack account must be on an approved plan that includes identity verification.

About BVN Resolution

The Bank Verification Number (BVN) is an 11-digit identifier issued by the CBN to every registered bank customer in Nigeria. It is tied to a customer's biometric data and links all their bank accounts across the Nigerian banking system. Resolving a BVN returns the registered personal information for that number, which you can compare against customer-supplied details to verify identity.

Resolve a BVN

Submits a BVN to the provider and returns the associated personal record. The response is returned synchronously.

POST

/v1/identity/resolve-bvn

Resolves a BVN and returns the associated personal information from the NIBSS database via Paystack.

Request body

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`bvn`	`string`	Required	11-digit Bank Verification Number to resolve.
`provider_id`	`string`	Optional	Provider to use for the lookup. Currently only paystack is supported. Omit to use the default configured provider.

Example requestbash

curl -X POST https://api.popfab.io/v1/identity/resolve-bvn \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "bvn": "12345678901"
  }'

200 OK — BVN resolution resultjson

{
  "bvn": "12345678901",
  "first_name": "Ada",
  "last_name": "Okafor",
  "middle_name": "Chisom",
  "date_of_birth": "1990-05-14",
  "phone_number": "08012345678",
  "enrollment_bank": "058"
}

⚠

BVN resolution requires a Paystack account on a plan that includes identity verification. If your plan does not include this feature, the API will return a 422 PROVIDER_FEATURE_UNAVAILABLE error. Contact your Paystack account manager to enable identity services on your account.

Handle BVN data with strict care. BVNs and the personal data returned by this endpoint are sensitive personal information regulated under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA). Store and process this data only as permitted by your privacy policy and applicable law.

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`bvn`	`string`	The BVN that was resolved.
`first_name`	`string`	Registered first name of the BVN holder.
`last_name`	`string`	Registered last name (surname) of the BVN holder.
`middle_name`	`string`	Registered middle name. May be null if not on record.
`date_of_birth`	`string`	Date of birth in YYYY-MM-DD format.
`phone_number`	`string`	Phone number registered to the BVN.
`enrollment_bank`	`string`	CBN bank code of the bank where the BVN was first enrolled.

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