Question 1

What does Kora Identity do?

Accepted Answer

Kora Identity is the multi-country identity verification feature set within the Kora API (formerly Korapay). It enables Nigerian and pan-African fintechs to verify individuals and businesses across four African countries — Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa — using a single API key shared with Kora payment services. The identity service provides instant verification against government databases using cutting-edge encryption and security protocols.

What It Does

Kora Identity offers two categories of verification: individual KYC and business KYB. For Nigeria: BVN (Bank Verification Number), NIN (National Identification Number), vNIN (Virtual NIN), and phone number verification. For Ghana: International Passport, SSNIT number, Voters Card, and Driver's Licence verification. For Kenya: International Passport, National ID, phone number, and Tax PIN verification. For South Africa: SAID (South African ID Number) verification. For Nigeria KYB: CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission) business registration verification.

How Developers Use It

Same credentials as Kora payments — authenticate with Bearer token using Secret Key. Documentation at developers.korapay.com/docs/verify-customers-businesses. Verification costs are deducted per lookup from the Kora account balance. Live mode and Identity service activation required in dashboard before using in production. An OpenAPI specification is available at developers.korapay.com/llms.txt.

Pricing

Per-verification pricing deducted from Kora account balance. No public rate card. Contact Kora for identity service pricing.

Nigeria-Specific Verification Coverage

Nigeria has the most comprehensive coverage: BVN (tied to all Nigerian bank accounts), NIN (national ID from NIMC), vNIN (privacy-safe virtual NIN that can be shared without exposing full NIN), and phone number verification. CAC business verification confirms company registration with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission.

Challenges and Gotchas

(1) Identity service must be separately activated in the Kora dashboard — not automatically available with a new account. (2) No liveness detection, document capture, or selfie match — Kora Identity is data-matching only. (3) Per-lookup billing means costs scale with verification volume. (4) For full biometric KYC (selfie + document), use Smile Identity or Dojah instead.

Company Background

Kora (formerly Korapay) is a CBN-licensed Nigerian fintech company with multi-country operations. The identity product is part of a broader strategy to be the end-to-end payment and compliance infrastructure for pan-African fintechs.

FAQs

Q: Does Kora Identity support NIN verification?
A: Yes. NIN and vNIN (Virtual NIN) are both supported for Nigeria.

Q: Can I verify a business registration (CAC)?
A: Yes. CAC verification for Nigerian businesses is supported.

Q: Is Kora Identity available in Kenya?
A: Yes. Passport, National ID, phone, and Tax PIN verification for Kenya are supported.

Q: Do I need a separate API key?
A: No. The same Bearer token used for Kora payments is used for identity verification.

Kora Identity's multi-country verification scope — covering BVN and NIN in Nigeria, SSNIT and Voter Card in Ghana, and National ID in Kenya — means that Nigerian fintechs expanding to multiple African markets can use the same identity verification provider that powers their Nigerian KYC workflow for their expansion markets, rather than establishing separate identity verification relationships in each new country. This KYC infrastructure continuity reduces integration complexity as platforms expand their geographic footprint.

The bank account verification capability within Kora Identity — resolving the account holder name for a provided account number and sort code — prevents payment failures due to account number typos and reduces fraud from account number substitution. For Nigerian platforms processing disbursements to many recipients, pre-validating account details before initiating transfers reduces failed disbursement rates and the operational burden of investigating and correcting failed transfers.

CAC business verification through Kora Identity allows platforms serving Nigerian business customers to verify that a provided company name and RC number correspond to a registered and active business entity in the Corporate Affairs Commission database. For B2B lending platforms, supply chain finance providers, and corporate onboarding workflows, CAC verification provides an automated corporate KYC data point that replaces manual document review.

Question 2

How much does Kora Identity cost?

Accepted Answer

Kora Identity is a paid API. Per-verification pricing deducted from Kora account balance. No public rate card — contact Kora for identity service pricing. Identity service must be activated separately in the Kora dashboard.

Question 3

How do I authenticate with the Kora Identity API?

Accepted Answer

Bearer Token (Secret Key — same as Kora Payments API)

Question 4

Is there a rate limit on Kora Identity?

Accepted Answer

Not publicly specified

Question 5

Does Kora Identity offer a sandbox or test mode?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 6

What is Kora Identity best suited for?

Accepted Answer

Nigerian and pan-African fintechs, lending platforms, and neobanks using Kora for payments who also need multi-country KYC — BVN/NIN for Nigeria, SSNIT/Voters Card for Ghana, National ID for Kenya — through a single API.

Question 7

Is there anything else I should know before integrating Kora Identity?

Accepted Answer

Kora Identity is the KYC/KYB feature set within the Kora API. Covers Nigeria (BVN, NIN, vNIN, phone), Ghana (Passport, SSNIT, Voters, Driver's Licence), Kenya (Passport, National ID, phone, Tax PIN), South Africa (SAID). CAC business verification for Nigeria KYB. Identity service activation required in Kora dashboard.

Question 8

Where can I find Kora Identity's documentation?

Accepted Answer

The official API documentation is at https://developers.korapay.com/docs/verify-customers-businesses. The provider's website is https://korahq.com.

Question 9

Does Kora Identity support Nigerian developers?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Kora Identity explicitly supports Nigerian developers/use cases.

Kora Identity

Features Included

Not Supported

Key Highlights

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