Beneficary Status + Bank Codes Approach
Bank codes & market requirements
When creating a beneficiary, you must provide the correct bank identifier for the destination market. Verto uses three different identifier types depending on the market and available payment infrastructure.
Identifier types
Local bank codes
Used in markets where a standardised national bank code system exists with full coverage. Pass the local bank code as the nationalId field in your beneficiary request.
- Nigeria — NIP numeric bank codes (e.g.
000014for Access Bank) - United Kingdom — sort codes, collected directly from your end customer
SWIFT / BIC codes
Used for most other markets where local code infrastructure is not available or does not provide full coverage. Pass the SWIFT BIC as the nationalId field.
This includes: ZAR, XOF, XAF, GHS, AED, and all other markets not listed above.
Verto internal codes
Used in markets where no standardised local identifier system exists with full coverage. Verto maintains its own internal member ID system for these markets. Pass the Verto Member ID as the nationalId field.
- Kenya — Verto Member IDs (e.g.
KE0001) - Tanzania — mobile money provider name (Tigo, Airtel, M-Pesa)
Beneficiary approval
Most beneficiaries are approved automatically and immediately upon creation. For clients operating in higher-risk industries, beneficiary approval may require manual review before payments can be processed.
If your use case involves higher-risk industries, check with your accountmanager whether manual beneficiary approval applies to your account. You will receive a webhook notification once a beneficiary has been approved.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
approved | Beneficiary approved and ready to receive payments. |
pending | Beneficiary is awaiting manual review. Payments cannot be processed until approved. |
rejected | Beneficiary has been rejected. A new beneficiary must be created. |
Bank code reference
For a full list of supported bank codes by market, see the reference sheet below. Use the value in the Verto National ID (Member ID) column as nationalId in your beneficiary request.
How to read the reference sheet
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Country | The destination market |
| Bank Name | Full legal name of the bank or payment provider |
| Verto National ID (Member ID) | The value to pass as nationalId in your beneficiary request |
| SWIFT BIC | The SWIFT code where applicable — use for international transfers where indicated |
Where the SWIFT BIC column showsLOCAL_ONLY, the institution does not support international SWIFT transfers. Use the Verto National ID for local payments only.
Market notes
United Kingdom
Collect the sort code directly from your end customer or their bank. Pass it as nationalId in your beneficiary request. For international GBP transfers, use the SWIFT BIC instead.
Nigeria
Use the NIP numeric bank code as nationalId for local NGN payments. For international transfers, use the SWIFT BIC. The full list of Nigerian bank codes is available in the reference sheet above.
Kenya
Kenya uses Verto internal member IDs as no standardised national bank code system exists with full coverage. Use the KE00XX value from the reference sheet as nationalId. M-PESA uses its own identifier as listed.
Tanzania
Pass the provider name (Tigo, Airtel, or M-Pesa) as nationalId.
Bank Payments should use BIC/SWIFT code.
All other markets
Use the SWIFT BIC as nationalId. No additional lookup is required.