Kora Payments API

Banking & Fintech · Payments · Currency Exchange · Security

Kora (formerly Korapay) is a CBN-licensed pan-African payment infrastructure company offering a unified API for payment acceptance, payouts, identity verification, and exchange rates across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. The company rebranded from Korapay to Kora to signal its evolution from a single-market payment gateway to a multi-country API platform. Kora serves Nigerian and pan-African fintechs, marketplaces, and enterprises with a developer-first API design.

freemium

Bearer Token (Secret Key from Kora Dashboard, base URL: api.korapay.com/merchant)

Not publicly specified — contact Kora for limits

✓ Available

Best For

Nigerian fintechs and pan-African businesses that need a single API covering card payments, mobile money, bank transfers, identity verification (BVN, NIN, CAC), and exchange rates — with multi-country coverage including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.

Pricing

Kora (formerly Korapay) is CBN-licensed and serves multiple African markets. API base URL is api.korapay.com/merchant. Bearer token auth using Secret Key. Verification costs are deducted from account balance per lookup. Live mode requires identity service activation in the dashboard.

Not Supported

Recurring BillingSplit PaymentsCrypto Payments

Key Highlights

  • BVN, NIN, vNIN, and CAC verification built into the payments API
  • Multi-country KYC: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa
  • Mobile money acceptance across Africa
  • Exchange rate API included
  • Bearer token auth — clean REST API design
  • CBN-licensed payment and identity infrastructure
  • Sandbox with test cards and bank accounts

Required Access Documents

  • CAC Registration CertificateRequired
    Certificate of Incorporation or Business Name Registration for Nigerian businesses — required for Kora live mode activation.
  • Director BVN and Government IDRequired
    BVN and valid government-issued ID for directors — required for CBN-mandated KYC compliance.
  • Business Bank AccountRequired
    Active Nigerian bank account for NGN settlement.
  • Identity Service ActivationRequired
    Identity verification services require separate activation in the Kora dashboard beyond standard payment access.

Use Cases

  • Checkout with Built-In BVN Verification:Nigerian fintech onboarding flows can use Kora to run BVN and NIN checks at the same time as collecting first payments — eliminating the need for two separate API integrations for KYC and payments.
  • Mobile Money Acceptance for Pan-African Apps:Nigerian apps expanding to Ghana or Kenya can use Kora mobile money API to accept MTN Mobile Money and M-Pesa payments without switching payment providers — maintaining one API for all African markets.
  • FX-Aware Checkout:Nigerian platforms accepting international payments can use Kora's built-in Exchange Rate API to display real-time NGN equivalents for USD/GBP prices before checkout — improving conversion for Nigerian buyers.
  • Payout to Nigerian Bank Accounts:Marketplaces and gig economy platforms can use Kora Payout API to disburse earnings to vendors and workers at any Nigerian bank, with webhook confirmation of successful transfers.
  • Business KYB at Onboarding:Nigerian B2B platforms can use Kora CAC verification endpoint to confirm that a new business partner is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission before executing contracts or disbursing funds.

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