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POST
/
api
/
onboarding
/
verify_customer
Verify Customer
curl --request POST \
  --url https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'x-access-token: <api-key>' \
  --data '
{
  "country": "nigeria",
  "identifier": "12345678901",
  "identifier_type": "bvn"
}
'
import requests

url = "https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer"

payload = {
"country": "nigeria",
"identifier": "12345678901",
"identifier_type": "bvn"
}
headers = {
"x-access-token": "<api-key>",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)
const options = {
method: 'POST',
headers: {'x-access-token': '<api-key>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
body: JSON.stringify({country: 'nigeria', identifier: '12345678901', identifier_type: 'bvn'})
};

fetch('https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer', options)
.then(res => res.json())
.then(res => console.log(res))
.catch(err => console.error(err));
<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
CURLOPT_URL => "https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer",
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
'country' => 'nigeria',
'identifier' => '12345678901',
'identifier_type' => 'bvn'
]),
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
"Content-Type: application/json",
"x-access-token: <api-key>"
],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
echo $response;
}
package main

import (
"fmt"
"strings"
"net/http"
"io"
)

func main() {

url := "https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer"

payload := strings.NewReader("{\n \"country\": \"nigeria\",\n \"identifier\": \"12345678901\",\n \"identifier_type\": \"bvn\"\n}")

req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

req.Header.Add("x-access-token", "<api-key>")
req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

defer res.Body.Close()
body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

fmt.Println(string(body))

}
HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer")
.header("x-access-token", "<api-key>")
.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
.body("{\n \"country\": \"nigeria\",\n \"identifier\": \"12345678901\",\n \"identifier_type\": \"bvn\"\n}")
.asString();
require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["x-access-token"] = '<api-key>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n \"country\": \"nigeria\",\n \"identifier\": \"12345678901\",\n \"identifier_type\": \"bvn\"\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body
{
  "status": "failed",
  "data": [
    "<unknown>"
  ],
  "message": "<string>"
}
{
"status": "failed",
"message": "Authentication credentials were not provided."
}

Endpoint

POST /api/onboarding/verify_customer

Request

Headers

HeaderValueRequired
x-access-tokenYour API keyYes
Content-Typeapplication/jsonYes

Body Parameters

ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
countrystringYesCountry of the customer. Supported: nigeria, kenya, ghana, uganda, rwanda
identifierstringYesThe customer’s ID number (e.g. BVN, NIN, National ID)
identifier_typestringNoOverrides the country default. See supported values

Example

curl -X POST https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer \
  -H "x-access-token: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "country": "nigeria",
    "identifier": "12345678901"
  }'
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer",
    headers={"x-access-token": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={
        "country": "nigeria",
        "identifier": "12345678901",
    },
)
print(response.json())
const response = await fetch("https://adhere-api.smartcomply.com/api/onboarding/verify_customer", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-access-token": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    country: "nigeria",
    identifier: "12345678901",
  }),
});
const data = await response.json();

Response

All responses return HTTP 200. Use the decision field — not the HTTP status — to determine the onboarding outcome. See the Decision Guide for how to act on each value.
status
string
Always "success" on a 200 response.
message
string
Always "Customer onboarding completed" on success.
data
object

Pass — identity verified, no matches

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Customer onboarding completed",
  "data": {
    "onboarding_id": 1024,
    "identity": {
      "verified": true,
      "identifier_type": "BVN",
      "first_name": "Amaka",
      "middle_name": "Chisom",
      "last_name": "Okafor",
      "date_of_birth": "1992-04-17",
      "gender": "Female",
      "phone": "08031234567"
    },
    "screening": {
      "sanctions": [],
      "peps": [],
      "adverse_media": [],
      "risk_level": "low"
    },
    "decision": "pass"
  }
}

Review — identity verified, PEP match found

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Customer onboarding completed",
  "data": {
    "onboarding_id": 1025,
    "identity": {
      "verified": true,
      "identifier_type": "NIN",
      "first_name": "Emeka",
      "last_name": "Nwosu",
      "date_of_birth": "1985-11-02",
      "gender": "Male"
    },
    "screening": {
      "sanctions": [],
      "peps": [
        {
          "name": "Emeka Nwosu",
          "pep_types": ["role.pep", "pep-class-2"],
          "gender": "male",
          "source": "OpenSanctions",
          "country": "Nigeria",
          "political_post": ["Former State Commissioner"]
        }
      ],
      "adverse_media": [],
      "risk_level": "medium"
    },
    "decision": "review"
  }
}

Fail — identity verification unsuccessful

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Customer onboarding completed",
  "data": {
    "onboarding_id": 1026,
    "identity": {
      "verified": false,
      "identifier_type": "BVN",
      "error": "Bank Verification Number (BVN) check failed: Invalid BVN provided"
    },
    "screening": {
      "sanctions": [],
      "peps": [],
      "adverse_media": [],
      "risk_level": "low",
      "note": "AML screening skipped: identity verification did not return a name"
    },
    "decision": "fail"
  }
}

Error Responses

HTTP StatusMessageCause
401"Authorization token is missing"No x-access-token header
401"Authorization failed"Token not recognised or expired
403"Identity Verification suite isn't enabled for this branch"Feature not activated — contact support
403"Your account hasn't been verified for Identity Verification Suite"Admin account pending verification
400"country is required"Missing country field
400"identifier is required"Missing identifier field
400"Unsupported country '…'. Supported: …"Invalid country value
400"Unsupported identifier_type '…' for …. Supported: …"Invalid identifier_type for the given country

Authorizations

x-access-token
string
header
required

Your Adhere API secret key

Body

application/json
country
enum<string>
required

Country of the customer

Available options:
nigeria,
kenya,
ghana,
uganda,
rwanda
Example:

"nigeria"

identifier
string
required

The ID number to verify (BVN, NIN, National ID, etc.)

Example:

"12345678901"

identifier_type
string

Overrides the country default. Nigeria: bvn, nin, vnin. Others: national_id or ghana_id.

Example:

"bvn"

Response

Onboarding completed — check decision field for pass/review/fail