Banks API

The Banks API allows you to retrieve lists of banks for specific countries. This is essential for building beneficiary forms and validating bank account information.

Get Banks by Country

Retrieve a list of all banks available for a specific country. This endpoint is commonly used to populate bank selection dropdowns in your application.

Endpoint

GET /api/v1/banks/{country_code}

Authentication

This endpoint requires JWT authentication. Include your access token in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer <your-access-token>

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`country_code`	string	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (e.g., "NG" for Nigeria, "US" for United States, "CA" for Canada)

Supported Country Codes

Common country codes include:

NG - Nigeria
US - United States
CA - Canada
GB - United Kingdom
KE - Kenya
GH - Ghana
ZA - South Africa

Note: The list of supported countries may vary. Contact support if you need banks for a country not listed here.

Success Response (200 OK)

Returns an array of bank objects:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "Access Bank",
    "code": "044",
    "national_bank_code": "044"
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "name": "GTBank",
    "code": "058",
    "national_bank_code": "058"
  },
  {
    "id": 3,
    "name": "First Bank of Nigeria",
    "code": "011",
    "national_bank_code": "011"
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "name": "Zenith Bank",
    "code": "057",
    "national_bank_code": "057"
  }
]

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`id`	integer	Unique identifier for the bank
`name`	string	Full name of the bank
`code`	string	Bank code used for transactions
`national_bank_code`	string	National bank code (may be the same as `code`)

Error Responses

Status Code	Description
`400`	Invalid country code format
`401`	Unauthorized - Invalid or missing JWT token
`404`	Banks not found for the specified country code
`500`	Internal server error

Example: cURL

# Get banks for Nigeria
curl -X GET /api/v1/banks/NG \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."
 
# Get banks for United States
curl -X GET /api/v1/banks/US \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."
 
# Get banks for Canada
curl -X GET /api/v1/banks/CA \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."

Example: HTTP Request

GET /api/v1/banks/NG HTTP/1.1
Host: api.sznd.app
Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...
Content-Type: application/json

Use Cases

Beneficiary Forms - Populate bank selection dropdowns when users add beneficiaries
Account Validation - Use bank codes to validate account numbers before creating beneficiaries
Bank Lookup - Display bank names in transaction details and receipts
Multi-Country Support - Dynamically load banks based on the user's selected country

Best Practices

Cache Results - Bank lists don't change frequently, so consider caching the response to reduce API calls
Handle Errors Gracefully - Some country codes may not be supported; provide fallback options
Store Bank IDs - Use the id field when creating beneficiaries, as it's more reliable than codes
Validate Country Code - Ensure the country code is in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 format before making the request

Related Endpoints

Account Lookup - Verify bank account numbers and retrieve account holder names
Create Beneficiary - Use bank information when creating beneficiaries

Next Steps

After retrieving the bank list, you can:

Create Beneficiaries - Use the bank id or code when creating beneficiary records
Validate Accounts - Use the account lookup endpoint to verify account numbers
Display Bank Names - Show user-friendly bank names in your UI

For more information, see:

Beneficiaries API - How to create and manage beneficiaries
Account Lookup - Verify bank account details

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