Virtual Bank Accounts

What are Virtual Bank Accounts?

Virtual Bank Accounts are dedicated bank account numbers that allow your business and your customers to receive money. When someone sends funds to a Virtual Bank Account, the money is automatically credited to the associated wallet, and you are notified via a webhook. They are available in NGN, GBP, EUR, and USD.

How to create a Virtual Bank Account

Endpoint: /virtual-bank-account
Method: POST
Purpose: Generate a new Virtual Bank Account linked to a wallet.

For NGN, the Virtual Bank Account is typically activated immediately and the response will return with a SUCCESSFUL status along with the account details. For GBP, EUR, and USD, the account is created asynchronously. The response will return with a PENDING status. Once the account is fully activated, you will receive a virtual_account.ready webhook with the account details (account number, bank name, etc.). If the account creation fails or is rejected, you will receive a virtual_account.failed or virtual_account.rejected webhook instead.

Customer type restrictions by currency. NGN Virtual Bank Accounts work for both type=individual and type=business customers (Minimal and Full). GBP, EUR, and USD Virtual Bank Accounts require either type=individual (verified) or type=business with kyb_scope=FULL — kyb_scope=MINIMAL is NGN-only. Business customers must complete the KYB flow (/submit) before the customer is VERIFIED.

In the development environment, only NGN Virtual Bank Accounts settle.

Understanding identification types (TIN)

When creating a Virtual Bank Account (particularly for USD), your customer needs a tin (Tax Identification Number) value on their profile. However, “TIN” is a generic term — what it actually represents depends on the customer’s country and whether they are an individual or a business. For example:

Country	Customer type	What to collect	Example label
US	Individual	Social Security Number	SSN
US	Business	Employer Identification Number	EIN
NG	Individual	Bank Verification Number	BVN
GB	Individual	National Insurance Number	NINO
CA	Individual	Social Insurance Number	SIN

How to use this in your integration:

Call Get identification type with the customer’s country and type (or their customer_id if you already have one).
Use the returned label to display the correct field name in your UI (e.g. “Enter your Social Security Number” instead of “Enter your TIN”).
Save the value your customer provides as the tin field when creating or updating the customer.
Proceed to create the Virtual Bank Account.

Individual and business customers in the same country often require different identification types. Always pass the correct type parameter when looking up the identification type.

Quick answers

Which Virtual Bank Accounts settle in development? Only NGN Virtual Bank Accounts settle in the development environment.
Should the customer’s country match the identity document? Yes. The customer’s country must match the identity document submitted for KYC.
How long does customer verification take? See the warning below.

Verification is not instant. After you upload identity documents for a customer, those documents go through a review process. The customer’s status will remain PENDING (or, for business customers after /submit, PROCESSING) until that review is complete.For individual customers, the review finishes within a few minutes in most cases; up to 2 hours under additional screening. Do not raise support tickets within that window. Escalate to support@blaaiz.com only if verification has been pending for 5 hours or more.For business customers, business KYB review typically takes 1–5 business days. Do not raise tickets within that window. Escalate only if the customer has been PROCESSING for more than 5 business days. See Business customer KYB.Listen for the customer.verified or customer.rejected webhook to know when the review is complete.

How do I know the correct tin label or field? See Understanding identification types above, or call the Get identification type endpoint.

Before creating a Virtual Bank Account, ensure the following prerequisites are in place. Requirements vary depending on the currency.

All Currencies
NGN
GBP
EUR
USD

Wallet must existYou must have a wallet in the currency you want to create a Virtual Bank Account for. Pass a valid wallet_id in your request.Customer is always requiredYou must provide a customer_id for all currencies. The customer must belong to your business and must have verification_status of VERIFIED before you can create a Virtual Bank Account. For NGN, both type=individual (verified through KYC) and type=business (verified through the KYB flow) are accepted. For GBP, USD, and EUR, only type=individual is supported.No duplicate accountsYou cannot create a second Virtual Bank Account for the same customer and wallet combination. If one already exists, the request will be rejected.Customer country and identity document must matchThe customer’s country must match the country on the identity document submitted for KYC.Accepted identity documentsOnly a Driver’s License, Passport, or Resident Permit is accepted for individual customers. Business customers identify via registration_number + incorporation_country and supply a Certificate of Incorporation (or equivalent formation document) through the KYB document collection. ID cards (National Identity Cards) are not accepted. No other document types are supported.Document qualityAll uploaded documents must be clear, legible, and authentic. Blurry, cropped, obscured, or otherwise unclear images will not be reviewed and will be rejected. Fraudulent or falsified documents will not be tolerated — repeated attempts to submit false or invalid documents will result in the customer being permanently blacklisted from the platform. There are no exceptions or compromises.

Customer is requiredYou must provide a customer_id. The customer must be verified and belong to your business.Immediate activationNGN Virtual Bank Accounts are typically activated immediately and the response will return with a SUCCESSFUL status along with the account details.

Customer is requiredYou must provide a customer_id. The customer must be verified and of type individual.Customer information must be completeThe following fields must be present on the customer’s profile and KYC data before creating a GBP Virtual Bank Account:

First Name
Last Name
Email
Country
ID Type
ID Number
Date of Birth
ID Expiry Date
Zip Code
City
Street

If any of these are missing, the request will fail and the response will tell you which fields are missing.Name formatThe customer’s first name and last name must contain only letters, hyphens, periods, apostrophes, and spaces. Names with numbers or special characters will be rejected.Street address formatThe customer’s street address must contain only alphanumeric characters and the following: - / # ( ) ' , .ID must not be expiring soonThe customer’s identity document must have an expiry date at least one month from today.Valid postal codeThe customer’s zip code must be a valid postal code for their country.

First Name
Last Name
Email
Country
ID Type
ID Number
Date of Birth
ID Expiry Date
Zip Code
City
Street

Customer is requiredYou must provide a customer_id. The customer must be verified and of type individual.Identity document must be uploadedThe customer must have an identity document file uploaded before you can create a USD Virtual Bank Account.Driver’s License, Passport, or Resident Permit onlyAll individual customers must have a Driver’s License, Passport, or Resident Permit as their identity document. ID cards (National Identity Cards) are not accepted. No other document types are accepted. All document images must be clear and legible — unclear images will be rejected. Repeated submission of fraudulent or invalid documents will result in the customer being permanently blacklisted.Customer information must be completeUSD Virtual Bank Accounts require the most customer information. The following fields must all be present:

First Name
Last Name
Email
Phone
Country
ID Type
ID Number
TIN (Tax Identification Number)
Date of Birth
ID Expiry Date
Street
City
State
Zip Code

If any of these are missing, the request will fail and the response will tell you which fields are missing.TIN label lookupThe tin field is required for USD customers, but the actual identification type varies by country (e.g. SSN for US individuals, BVN for Nigerian individuals). See Understanding identification types for the full workflow, or call the Get identification type endpoint to look up the correct label before creating or updating the customer.ID must not be expiring soonThe customer’s identity document must have an expiry date at least one month from today.Valid postal codeThe customer’s zip code must be a valid postal code for their country.

Managing Virtual Bank Accounts

Once created, you can manage your Virtual Bank Accounts using the following endpoints:

List Virtual Bank Accounts — retrieve all Virtual Bank Accounts for your business.
Get Virtual Bank Account — retrieve details of a specific Virtual Bank Account by ID.
Close Virtual Bank Account — close a Virtual Bank Account that is no longer needed.

​What are Virtual Bank Accounts?

​How to create a Virtual Bank Account

​Understanding identification types (TIN)

​Quick answers

​Managing Virtual Bank Accounts

What are Virtual Bank Accounts?

How to create a Virtual Bank Account

Understanding identification types (TIN)

Quick answers

Managing Virtual Bank Accounts