KYC APIs in Nigeria: the nine verified providers compared

Nigeria runs nine separate government identity databases, each managed by a different agency. When a KYC vendor says "we verify Nigerian identities," the real question is: which of these databases can they actually access, and can they match the result to a face?

This is a guide to all nine verified KYC APIs in the Findra registry as of June 2026, what each covers, and how to choose between them.

The databases behind Nigerian identity verification

Before picking a provider, know what you are asking them to access:

• NIN: National Identity Number, issued by NIMC, the primary national identifier
• BVN: Bank Verification Number, issued by CBN via NIBSS, required for all bank accounts
• vNIN: a tokenised NIN variant, safer to share over APIs than the raw number
• Voter card: issued by INEC, useful for residential address correlation
• International passport: issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service
• Driver's license: issued by FRSC
• FIRS TIN: Federal Inland Revenue Service tax identification
• JTB TIN: Joint Tax Board, used for corporate and business-entity checks
• NYSC certificate: National Youth Service Corps, a professional credential check

No single provider covers all nine. What follows is what each verified provider actually reaches.

The nine verified providers

Smile ID covers nine Nigerian government databases, including NIN, BVN, driver's license, passport and voter, and adds biometric liveness detection plus face-match on top of the database checks. It is the only provider in the registry that combines live biometric verification with government database lookup. This makes it the right choice when you need to confirm the person presenting the ID is real, not just that the ID number is valid.

Prembly / Identitypass covers NIN, BVN, FRSC, NYSC, voter, passport and vNIN. It is the only provider in the Findra registry with NYSC certificate verification. Prembly also released FraudLens in March 2026, an open-source fraud-intelligence dataset for Nigerian fintechs, the first publicly available dataset of its kind.

Dojah covers NIN, BVN, FIRS TIN, driver's license, passport and voter. It is the only provider among the nine with fully public pricing: starting at $0.06 per API call, with a lower tier at $0.04 per call (confirmed on their pricing page). SDKs are available in Python, JavaScript and PHP. If you want to build a cost model before any sales conversation, Dojah is the only option that lets you do that without a discovery call.

VerifyMe covers NIN, BVN, driver's license, passport and voter, and adds two things the other providers do not: telco data correlation (phone number linked to subscriber record) and field-agent physical address confirmation. A human verifies the address in person, which is useful for KYC flows that require proof of address. There is no published SDK; integration is REST-only.

Youverify covers NIN and BVN, supplemented by a 300M+ person global identity database. It is the only provider in the registry that explicitly documents accreditation by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), which some compliance teams require in writing before approving a vendor. One important caveat: Youverify's own documentation flags the passport verification API as unstable as of their last disclosure.

Seamfix is biometric-first with an enterprise focus and active government contracts. It is the right choice when the integration involves physical capture hardware such as bank branches, kiosk networks or agent banking deployments, rather than a mobile or web API flow.

MetaMap is a global identity provider with Nigeria coverage across NIN, business registration and tax verifications, including FIRS TIN lookup. It is the most practical choice for products serving both Nigerian and international users who want a single vendor for both.

QoreID covers NIN, vNIN, BVN, driver's license, voter, FIRS and JTB. The JTB (Joint Tax Board) coverage is unique among providers in the registry as of June 2026. If your product does business-entity onboarding that requires a tax-board check, QoreID is currently the only verified option.

Kora (KYC) bundles identity verification into Kora's payment infrastructure, covering BVN, vNIN, NIN, passport, voter and TIN. If you are already using Kora for payments, this is the lowest-friction path to adding KYC without a second vendor relationship and onboarding process.

What to use when

• Biometric liveness plus face match: Smile ID, the only provider combining both
• NYSC certificate verification: Prembly / Identitypass
• Transparent pricing before any sales call: Dojah (see also: Dojah vs Smile ID)
• Physical address confirmed by a field agent: VerifyMe
• NDPC compliance documentation required by your legal team: Youverify
• Branch, kiosk or agent network with biometric hardware: Seamfix
• Nigerian plus international identity from one vendor: MetaMap
• Corporate JTB or Joint Tax Board verification: QoreID
• Already using Kora Payments and want one vendor: Kora KYC

The approval reality

Every provider in this list requires business approval before issuing live credentials. There is no self-serve path to production for identity APIs in Nigeria. Onboarding typically involves submitting business registration documents, a use-case description and sometimes a compliance questionnaire. Plan for 3 to 10 business days before you receive live API keys, and build that lead time into any launch schedule.

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For the full verified list of Nigerian identity and KYC APIs with current documentation status and direct provider links, see https://findra.dev/best/apis-in-nigeria.