Payments · Developers
Payout API for bulk and instant disbursements
Boldrails is a licensed payment provider with a payout API that disburses to bank transfer, mobile money and cards through one REST integration. We hold the licence and pay recipients directly, with sandbox testing, webhooks, idempotent retries and settlement in fiat or crypto. Built for high-volume and high-risk merchants in Nigeria and emerging markets.
- One REST API
- Sandbox + webhooks
- Fiat or crypto settlement
Last updated: 27 June 2026
What it is
What is a payout API?
A payout API is an interface your software calls to send money to recipients. You post a payout request with an amount, a destination and a reference. We disburse the funds and report back the result. No more manual transfers sitting in your finance team's queue.
It is also called a disbursement API, a mass payout API or a transfers API. The same Boldrails API handles one payment or a batch of thousands. So you can wire it to bulk payments and mass payouts without a second integration.
- Payroll and contractor pay
- Vendor and supplier payouts
- Marketplace seller payouts
- Creator and affiliate payouts
Integration
Single and bulk payout endpoints
One API covers both jobs. Send a single payout for one recipient, or submit a batch when you need to pay many people in one run. You build the integration once and reuse it as your volume grows.
Finance teams who do not code can upload a CSV of recipients instead. Engineers post payouts straight from your backend, no CSV involved. Both routes hit the same disbursement engine and return the same statuses, so your reconciliation stays consistent.
- Create a single payout to one recipient
- Submit a batch as an array or a CSV upload
- Retrieve a payout by its reference
- List payout history for reconciliation
Get started
Authentication and sandbox
You authenticate every request with an API key, and you test against a sandbox before any real money moves. Here is the path from sign-up to your first live disbursement.
- 1
Get your test and live API keys
- 2
Authenticate each request with your secret key
- 3
Test in our sandbox with simulated recipients
- 4
Switch to live and disburse
You get sandbox access without a sales call, so your team can start building today.
Coverage
Disburse to bank transfer and mobile money
One API reaches bank transfer, mobile money and cards across several markets. Most Nigerian providers pay to one rail in one country. We disburse across rails and regions from the same integration, and we pay in local currency.
| Rail | Region | Currency | Recipient resolution | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer (NIBSS / NIP) | Nigeria | NGN | Account-name resolve | Near-instant |
| Mobile money (M-Pesa, Airtel Money) | Kenya | KES | Number resolve | Near-instant |
| Mobile money (MTN MoMo, Airtel Money) | Ghana, Uganda | GHS, UGX | Number resolve | Near-instant |
| Mobile money (Orange Money, MTN MoMo) | Francophone Africa | XOF, XAF | Number resolve | Near-instant |
| Cards (push-to-card) | Multi-region | Multi-currency | Card token | Minutes |
We resolve and verify each recipient before a payout leaves, which cuts failed transfers and refunds. Coverage is capability-level; check the acceptance index for the current country, rail and currency list.
Rail references
Reconciliation
Webhooks, status and reconciliation
Payouts confirm asynchronously, not on the same request that creates them. When a transfer settles or fails, we send a webhook to your notification URL so your system updates without polling. A payout moves from processing to successful or failed. If it fails, the funds are reversed.
You can also query the status of any payout and pull your payout history on demand. That gives finance a clean record to match against your ledger, so reconciliation does not turn into guesswork.
Reliability
Error handling and idempotency
Every payout carries a unique reference you set. If a request times out and you retry with the same reference, we treat it as the same payout. You never pay a recipient twice.
On a 5xx or a timeout, the outcome is unknown until you check. So verify the payout status before you give a recipient value, and retry only if it did not go through.
| Response | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 2xx | Payout accepted | Wait for the webhook; do not re-send |
| 4xx | Validation failed | Fix the payload, retry with the same reference |
| 401 | Authentication failed | Check your secret key and environment |
| 5xx or timeout | Outcome unknown | Verify the payout status before re-sending |
Payout history is paginated, and the API is rate-limited; if you hit a 429, back off and retry.
Settlement
Settle in fiat or crypto
You decide how the funding and settlement leg works. Fund payouts and settle in fiat, or in crypto and stablecoin, from the same account. We settle to NGN, USD or a stablecoin. Which one depends on how you run treasury.
Few payout providers in Nigeria let you settle in crypto at all. We do. That helps teams holding balances on-chain, or moving money across borders without a local bank in every market.
Compliance
Payout API for Nigeria and CBN compliance
In Nigeria, disbursing funds is restricted to CBN-licensed banks and payment service providers. You cannot move other people's money to bank accounts at scale without that licence.
Boldrails operates as a licensed principal provider: we hold our own payment licences and disburse to recipients directly. We are not a broker, and we do not route your payouts through third parties. Nigerian bank payouts clear over NIBSS rails (NIP).
We build for high-risk verticals other providers turn away, including iGaming, forex and crypto, at the capability level. The CBN also sets a Disaggregation of Bulk Payment rule for large batches; see mass payouts for how that rule works.
Sources
Comparison
How Boldrails' payout API compares
Reviewed by: the Boldrails payments team
Several providers offer payout APIs in Nigeria. Most do one thing well. This table sets out where each one fits, using public documentation. We pay where we differ and where others lead.
| Provider | Single + bulk | Rails | Settlement | Crypto | High-risk | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boldrails | Both, one API | Bank + mobile money + cards, multi-region | Fiat or crypto | Yes | Yes | Yes, NGN direct |
| Korapay | Both | Bank + mobile money | NGN fiat | No | Not stated | Yes |
| Flutterwave | Both | Bank + multi-market mobile money | NGN, multi-fiat | No | Not stated | Yes |
| Interswitch | Both (bulk queued) | Bank, wallet + push-to-card | NGN fiat | No | Not stated | Yes |
| Stripe | Both | Bank only | USD, EUR, multi-fiat | No | Restricted | No, not served |
| Tipalti | Both | Bank + 200+ countries | 120 currencies, fiat | No | Regulated only | No, not NG-native |
Provider data from public documentation, June 2026. Boldrails pricing on request via Get started. Competitor links open in a new tab.
Korapay and Interswitch have strong Nigerian-rail developer docs, and they are a fair fit if NGN bank payouts are all you need. Stripe leads on documentation polish, but it does not serve Nigeria, so it is not an option for local disbursement.
Boldrails differs on three points: one API for bank, mobile money and cards across regions, settlement in fiat or crypto, and acceptance for high-risk verticals. We hold the licence as a principal provider and disburse directly. We do not pass your payouts on to someone else.
Build on our payout API
Get test keys today and disburse in the markets your competitors skip. Volume-based pricing, sandbox first, no sales gate to start building.
FAQ
Payout API FAQ
Last updated: 27 June 2026