Question 1

What does CarbonIVS do?

Accepted Answer

Carbon (OneFi Limited) is a Nigerian digital financial services company operating as Carbon Microfinance Bank, licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Carbon offers two developer-facing API products: the Carbon Business API — a BaaS layer for virtual accounts, payouts, and transaction management — and CarbonIVS, an identity verification system that connects directly to Nigeria government identity databases including BVN, NIN, International Passport, Driver's Licence, and Voter Registration.

What the APIs Do

The Carbon Business API enables fintechs and businesses to issue virtual bank account numbers to customers (static or dynamic), initiate and monitor payouts to any Nigerian bank, retrieve transaction history, and receive webhook events for real-time transaction notifications. It is designed as a BaaS layer for building financial products on top of CBN-licensed infrastructure.

CarbonIVS is a separate identity verification product that lets developers automate KYC flows by verifying users against all major Nigerian identity databases in real time. All verification results are reported on a dashboard in real time. CarbonIVS requests require AES encryption using your API key for additional security.

How Developers Use It

Developers access the API at docs.getcarbon.co. Authentication uses an API key passed via the x-carbon-key header. The sandbox base URL is carbonapistagingsecure.getcarbon.co/baas/api. Responses are JSON. To go live, businesses must complete Carbon onboarding and provide required compliance documents. Rate limits are not publicly documented — developers should contact Carbon support for current thresholds.

Pricing

Carbon does not publish pricing publicly. Both the Business API and CarbonIVS are enterprise products that require direct engagement with the Carbon sales team. A sandbox environment is available for testing at no cost.

Authentication

All API requests use an x-carbon-key header with your API key. CarbonIVS requests additionally require AES encryption of the payload using the API key for enhanced security during identity data transmission.

Compliance

Carbon operates as Carbon Microfinance Bank (RC 1642222), regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria. This makes it one of the most credible BaaS providers in Nigeria for businesses requiring a licensed banking infrastructure partner. CBN mandates KYC compliance — Carbon handles this through CarbonIVS for its partners.

Challenges and Gotchas

(1) Pricing is not public — requires a sales call before you can estimate integration costs. (2) Business API and CarbonIVS are separate products with separate onboarding. (3) Rate limits undisclosed — must be requested directly. (4) AES encryption requirement for CarbonIVS adds implementation complexity. (5) Carbon is Nigeria-only — no cross-border or international payment support.

Company Background

Carbon was founded in Nigeria by Chijioke Dozie and is headquartered in Lagos at Plot 642C Akin Adesola Street. The company employs over 90 people and has served millions of Nigerian consumers through its personal finance app. The business API suite is a newer B2B offering targeting fintechs and enterprises needing CBN-backed infrastructure.

FAQs

Q: Is Carbon a bank?
A: Yes. Carbon operates as Carbon Microfinance Bank, CBN-licensed and regulated.

Q: Can I use Carbon API without being a Nigerian business?
A: No. Carbon BaaS and CarbonIVS are designed for Nigeria-registered businesses operating in Nigeria.

Q: Is there a sandbox?
A: Yes. Sandbox access is available at carbonapistagingsecure.getcarbon.co.

Q: What identity documents can CarbonIVS verify?
A: BVN, NIN, International Passport, Driver's Licence, and Voter Registration card — all major Nigerian government IDs.

Q: Do I need to encrypt requests for the Business API?
A: AES encryption is specifically required for CarbonIVS identity verification calls. Standard Business API calls use the x-carbon-key header without additional encryption.

Question 2

How much does CarbonIVS cost?

Accepted Answer

CarbonIVS is free to start, with paid tiers for higher usage (freemium). Contact Carbon for pricing — not publicly listed. Free sandbox available. CarbonIVS identity verification and Business BaaS API are enterprise-tier products requiring direct sales engagement.

Question 3

How do I authenticate with the CarbonIVS API?

Accepted Answer

API Key (x-carbon-key header)

Question 4

Is there a rate limit on CarbonIVS?

Accepted Answer

Contact Carbon support for current limits

Question 5

Does CarbonIVS offer a sandbox or test mode?

Accepted Answer

Yes — CarbonIVS provides a sandbox or test environment so you can integrate and test before going live.

Question 6

What is CarbonIVS best suited for?

Accepted Answer

Nigerian fintechs and businesses needing a CBN-licensed BaaS partner for virtual accounts, payouts, and identity verification (BVN, NIN, Passport, Voter ID) via a regulated microfinance bank.

Question 7

Is there anything else I should know before integrating CarbonIVS?

Accepted Answer

Carbon operates as Carbon Microfinance Bank (CBN-licensed). The Business API and CarbonIVS identity product are separate from their consumer app. API requests use x-carbon-key header authentication. AES encryption required for CarbonIVS requests. Sandbox base URL: carbonapistagingsecure.getcarbon.co.

Question 8

Where can I find CarbonIVS's documentation?

Accepted Answer

The official API documentation is at https://docs.getcarbon.co/introduction. The provider's website is https://www.getcarbon.co.

Question 9

Does CarbonIVS support Nigerian developers?

Accepted Answer

Yes — CarbonIVS explicitly supports Nigerian developers/use cases.

CarbonIVS

Features Included

Not Supported

Key Highlights

Required Access Documents

Use Cases

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