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Paycrest follows international standards for currency and institution codes to ensure consistency and compatibility across different systems and regions.

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Currency Codes

Paycrest uses ISO 4217 standard currency codes, which are the internationally recognized three-letter codes for currencies.

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Examples:

  • NGN - Nigerian Naira
  • KES - Kenyan Shilling
  • UGX - Ugandan Shilling
  • TZS - Tanzanian Shilling
  • MWK - Malawi Kwacha
  • BRL - Brazilian Real
All currency codes used in Paycrest API calls must follow the ISO 4217 standard. These codes are case-sensitive and should be provided in uppercase.

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Institution Codes

Paycrest uses a hybrid approach for institution codes to accommodate both international banks and local financial institutions.

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SWIFT Codes (Banks)

For a bank that has a SWIFT/BIC, the Paycrest code is the bank’s 8-character SWIFT/BIC code.

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Examples:

  • GTBINGLA - Guaranty Trust Bank (Nigeria)
  • FBNINGLA - First Bank of Nigeria
  • CITINGLA - Citibank Nigeria
  • SCBLNGLA - Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria
  • KCBLKENX - Kenya Commercial Bank
  • EQBLKENA - Equity Bank Kenya
Some codes reflect a bank’s former name but are still its real BIC — e.g. ZEIBNGLA (Zenith, from “Zenith International Bank”), NAMENGLA (Sterling, from the former NAL Bank), and KDHLNGLA (FBNQuest, from Kakawa Discount House). A few historical codes differ from the bank’s current SWIFT — use the Paycrest code, not the SWIFT you may find elsewhere:
  • SBICNGLA — Stanbic IBTC Bank (SWIFT SBICNGLX)
  • PROVNGLA — Providus Bank (SWIFT UMPLNGLA)

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Custom Codes (Local Institutions)

For mobile payment providers, local banks without SWIFT codes, and other financial institutions, Paycrest uses custom 8-character codes built as: 4 letters from the institution’s name (where possible) + the 2-letter ISO country code + PC (PayCrest).

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Examples:

  • KUDANGPC - Kuda (Nigeria): KUDA + NG + PC
  • OPAYNGPC - OPay (Nigeria): OPAY + NG + PC
  • MONINGPC - Moniepoint (Nigeria): MONI + NG + PC
  • SAFAKEPC - Safaricom M-Pesa (Kenya): SAFA + KE + PC
  • AIRTKEPC - Airtel Money (Kenya): AIRT + KE + PC
For KES Till and Paybill offramps, keep SAFAKEPC (or the same mobile institution you use for M-Pesa) and set destination.recipient.metadata.channel to Till or Paybill (and businessNumber for Paybill). See Sender API Integration — KES mobile money.

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Code Format Rules

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Currency Codes

  • Format: 3 uppercase letters
  • Standard: ISO 4217
  • Case: Always uppercase
  • Examples: NGN, KES, UGX

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Institution Codes

  • Format: 8 characters
  • Banks with a SWIFT/BIC: the bank’s 8-character SWIFT/BIC code
  • Local Institutions (no SWIFT): 4 letters from the name + 2-letter ISO country code + PC
  • Case: Always uppercase
  • Examples: GTBINGLA, KUDANGPC

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API Usage

When making API calls, always use the correct code format. For new integrations, use POST /v2/sender/orders (offramp: stablecoin → fiat). Fiat currency is destination.currency; the bank or mobile-money institution is destination.recipient.institution. Crypto asset and chain are on source (source.currency, source.network). 
// v2 offramp — correct institution and currency codes (see OpenAPI for full required fields)
const order = {
  amount: "100",
  source: {
    type: "crypto",
    currency: "USDT",
    network: "base",
    refundAddress: "0xYourRefundAddress",
  },
  destination: {
    type: "fiat",
    currency: "NGN", // ISO 4217 — correct fiat currency code
    recipient: {
      institution: "GTBINGLA", // Correct institution code
      accountIdentifier: "1234567890",
      accountName: "John Doe",
      memo: "Payment",
    },
  },
};
Legacy v1 POST /sender/orders (https://api.paycrest.io/v1/...) uses a flatter body (amount, token, network, recipient) with the same uppercase institution and currency strings; prefer v2 for new work.

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Finding Institution Codes

Use the GET /institutions/ endpoint to get the complete list of supported institutions for any currency: 
curl -X GET "https://api.paycrest.io/v2/institutions/NGN" \
  -H "API-Key: your-api-key"
This endpoint returns all supported institutions with their codes, names, and types (bank or mobile_money).
Institution codes are case-sensitive and must be provided exactly as returned by the API. Always use the official codes from the API rather than guessing or using external SWIFT code databases.