New here? Jump to the Quickstart guide. You’ll make your first API call in under 5 minutes.
What is Banking as a Service?
Banking as a Service (BaaS) lets you add real banking features to your app or website without becoming a bank yourself. Here’s an analogy. You want to open a restaurant, but building a full commercial kitchen from scratch would take years and cost millions. So instead, you rent space in a shared kitchen that already has the ovens, the health permits, the refrigeration, and the suppliers. You bring your recipes, your brand, and your customers. The kitchen handles the infrastructure. UBN BaaS is that shared kitchen. Union Bank holds the banking licence, runs the core banking systems, and handles the regulatory compliance. You build your product on top, and your customers get real banking features without ever knowing the kitchen exists.What you can build
Virtual Bank Accounts
Open real Nigerian bank accounts (with real account numbers) programmatically for your customers or your business. Accounts are backed by Union Bank and work with every bank in Nigeria.
Payments
Send money to any Nigerian bank account in real time over the NIP (Nigeria Instant Payment) network. Automate payroll, vendor payments, customer refunds, and more.
Collections
Receive money from customers. Generate unique collection accounts so you always know exactly who paid and how much. Ideal for marketplaces, lending, and savings products.
Identity Verification
Verify that your customers are who they say they are. Check BVN (Bank Verification Number), NIN (National Identification Number), and CAC (company registration) through a single API.
Who is this platform for?
You don’t need to be a bank or hold a banking licence. You just need a registered Nigerian business and a Union Bank account.
- Fintech founders: You’re launching a savings app, a lending product, a wallet, or a neobank. You need real accounts and real payments, but you don’t want to spend two years getting your own banking licence.
- Businesses embedding banking: You run a marketplace, an e-commerce platform, or a logistics company. You want to pay vendors automatically, collect from customers, or give users their own wallets inside your existing product.
- Developers: You’re the engineer or technical lead building one of the above. These docs are written for you, but they’re also written so your CEO or finance director can follow along.
What would you like to do?
Quickstart
Make your first API call in 5 minutes. No theory, just a working call right away.
Onboarding
Register your company, upload your documents, and get approved to use the platform.
API Reference
Complete reference for every endpoint: request formats, response formats, and error codes.
Products
Deep-dive guides for Virtual Accounts, Payments, Collections, KYC, and Webhooks.
How it works in 3 steps
1
Register and get verified
Create your partner account at ubn-ui.onecluster.co/auth/signup. You’ll provide your company name, a corporate email address, and your Union Bank account number. We’ll send you a verification email and review your business documents (a process called KYB, or Know Your Business). This takes 1 to 3 business days.
2
Test in the Sandbox
Once you’re approved, you get a sandbox API key. The sandbox is a practice environment that behaves exactly like the real system, except no real money moves. You can create accounts, simulate payments, trigger webhooks, and test edge cases freely. There’s no time limit and no cost.
3
Go Live
When you’re ready to handle real transactions, submit your go-live request from the dashboard. We’ll review your integration, confirm your security setup, and issue your production keys. Then real money starts flowing and real customers can use your product.
A note on how these docs are organised
These docs follow a structure designed to match how you’ll actually use the platform:Ready to begin? Make your first API call.