Instant AML and KYC compliance solution for Nigeria

Smile ID's identity verification solution enables businesses in Nigeria to comply with AML and KYC requirements effortlessly. With instant customer identity verification and streamlined user onboarding, companies can ensure adherence to Nigeria's KYC, AML, and data protection regulations.

Country Overview

Nigeria has evolved into one of Africa's most robust KYC/AML jurisdictions in recent years. The country is affiliated with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) through its membership of the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).

Organisations looking to onboard customers in Nigeria must adhere to both local and international KYC standards.

Regulatory Overview

KYC/AML regulations

AML/KYC regulations in Nigeria are enforced by several regulators, including the following:

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU)

Nigeria's primary legislation governing KYC/AML is the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.

Choose Smile ID as your compliance partner for AML/KYC regulations in Nigeria!

Data protection regulations

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) enforces Nigeria’s data protection laws via the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).

Institutions are required to obtain users’ consent before processing and transferring personal data, and users are entitled to the erasure of their personal data upon request.

Accurately authenticate and onboard users in Nigeria

We empower fast-growing businesses to stay compliant, prevent fraud, and streamline their user verification processes effortlessly. Verify Nigerian users and prevent fraud with confidence:

Access up to 9 ID API Authorities covering over 132M+ ID records in Nigeria.

Verify up to 7 ID documents, including National IDs, Resident IDs, Passports, Driver’s Licenses, and more.

Verify up to 5 ID numbers, including NIN, BVN, Phone number, Voter's ID number and more.

Utilise de-biased models with a 99.8% accuracy rate for all African skin tones.

Our SDKs support low bandwidth and are compatible with software versions as old as Android 5.0. This makes them thoroughly optimised for image capture.

Conduct global AML checks against over 1100 global sanctions, PEPs, and adverse media watchlists.

Benefit from enterprise-level security standards with ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 1 & 2 certifications.

Seamlessly verify up to 7 ID documents in Nigeria

Give users the flexibility to verify their identity using any of the following ID documents. All we need is a document photo and a selfie.

Nigerian National Identity Cards

The Nigerian National ID is a biometric card issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). It contains personal information, and a unique National Identification Number (NIN). The card serves as a proof of identity for citizens. Other examples of national IDs in Nigeria include Consular IDs, which are issued by Nigerian consulates abroad to citizens living outside Nigeria, and Diplomat IDs, which are given to Nigerian diplomats and their families.

Nigerian Passport

The Nigerian Passport is an international travel document issued by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). It contains the holder’s personal information, photograph, and biometric data and enables them to travel internationally. The passport is essential for crossing international borders and proves Nigerian citizenship.

Nigerian Registration Certificate

The Nigerian Registration Certificate, often called the Certificate of Incorporation, is issued to businesses by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). It signifies that a business entity is legally registered under Nigerian law and is authorised to operate.

Nigerian Resident ID

The Nigerian Resident ID is issued to foreign nationals who have been granted the right to reside in Nigeria. Residency permits and cards include personal information, a photograph, and details about the holder’s visa status and duration of stay. Examples include residency permits and residency cards.

Verify up to 5 ID numbers in Nigeria

Our solution empowers businesses to verify Nigerian ID numbers directly from government databases

Verify Nigerian using ID documents

Verifying users with ID documents and biometric face matching is one of the most reliable ways to determine a user's true identity. Our ID document verification solution checks that an ID document is authentic, accurately transcribes the text on the document and compares a user-submitted selfie to the document image.

Transcribes document text with 96% accuracy

Checks for accurate format

Identifies tampered and forged documents

Verifies security features

Scan your document

Our image capture tools guide users to take clear photos even with older devices.

Smile for a selfie

Ensure the real user is behind the camera with a smile to test for liveness.

Get real-time results

In a few seconds, you will confirm the document is authentic and belongs to the user behind the camera.

Comprehensive Identity verification (KYC/AML) solution in one place

Select the ideal option to verify and onboard your customers seamlessly.

Document Verification: Verify over 8500 documents across 220 countries worldwide (including Nigeria) with 96% OCR accuracy using Smile ID.
Government Check: Utilise our Enhanced & Biometric KYC products to verify customer information against 9 Nigerian government ID databases, accessing up to 132M+ ID records.
Enhanced Document Verification: Businesses can combine document verification with government checks for a more enhanced document verification process during customer onboarding.

KYB solution for onboarding businesses in Nigeria

In Nigeria, financial institutions are required to meet KYB (Know Your Business) requirements to adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) regulations.

These requirements mandate the verification of business entities and the identification of key stakeholders and beneficial owners who utilise their services.

Our solution enables businesses to verify over 7 million companies from government databases across Africa, providing vital information such as:

Company registration status

General company information and address

Beneficial owners and other stakeholders

Smile Links: A flexible, no-code option for creating customised user verification flows

SDKs: Available for iOS, Android, Hosted Web, Flutter, and REACT Native

Server-to-server libraries: Compatible with Ruby, Java, PHP, Python, and node.js.

REST API: For comprehensive and flexible integration

Instant AML and KYC compliance solution for Nigeria

Country Overview