CAC Business Verification API: Nigerian RC Number Lookup

Use the LumiID CAC Business Verification API to verify Nigerian companies by their Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) RC number. You can validate a company’s registration details, confirm its legal status, and retrieve structured company records to support KYB, compliance, fraud prevention, and merchant onboarding workflows. The API offers two tiers — Basic and Premium — so you can choose the level of company information your use case requires.

Overview

Property	Value
Country	🇳🇬 Nigeria
Data Source	Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
Verification Tiers	Basic · Premium
Search Method	RC Number
Typical Latency	< 3 seconds
Sandbox	Supported
Compliance	KYB Ready

Verification tiers

Basic

The Basic tier is designed for standard business verification and merchant onboarding. It returns:

Company name, RC number, and registration status
Registration date and head office address
Company email and classification
Nature of business and share capital
Count of registered affiliates

Ideal for: merchant onboarding, vendor verification, marketplace onboarding, KYB compliance, and business identity confirmation.

Premium

The Premium tier returns everything in Basic, plus detailed corporate ownership and governance information:

Directors, shareholders, and company officers
Persons with Significant Control (PSC)
Residential addresses, share allocation, nationality, and appointment dates

Recommended for: banks, fintechs, payment providers, lending platforms, enterprise KYB, AML investigations, and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD).

Use Basic when you only need to confirm a company exists and is active. Upgrade to Premium when your compliance workflow requires ownership screening or director-level data.

Basic endpoint

Use this endpoint for standard business verification and merchant onboarding.

`POST /v1/ng/cac-basic/`

Base URL: https://api.lumiid.com

Headers

Header	Value
`Authorization`	`Bearer YOUR_SECRET_KEY`
`Content-Type`	`application/json`

Request body

string

required

The company’s CAC registration number. Include the RC prefix as issued by the Corporate Affairs Commission.Example: RC1234567

{
  "reg_number": "RC1234567"
}

Success response

{
  "success": true,
  "code": "CAC_VERIFIED",
  "message": "CAC verification successful",
  "summary": {
    "verified": true,
    "verification_type": "CAC",
    "provider": "LumiID",
    "confidence_score": 1.0
  },
  "data": {
    "rcNumber": "1234567",
    "companyName": "LUMIERE TECHNOLOGIES",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "registrationDate": "2022-08-04T15:05:12.383+00:00",
    "headOfficeAddress": "block 8, adeola odeku street, victoria island, lagos",
    "branchAddress": "",
    "city": "",
    "state": "",
    "lga": "",
    "companyType": "",
    "companyEmail": "john.doe@gmail.com",
    "classification": "Business",
    "natureOfBusiness": "",
    "shareCapital": 0,
    "shareCapitalInWords": "",
    "affiliates": 2
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_a3f9c21d9b4e",
    "timestamp": "2026-03-19T08:14:22.445821Z"
  }
}

Response fields

boolean

Indicates whether the verification completed successfully.

string

Machine-readable response code (e.g. CAC_VERIFIED).

string

Human-readable response message.

object

High-level verification summary.

Show summary fields

boolean

Whether the company was successfully verified.

string

Always CAC for this endpoint.

string

Always LumiID.

number

Verification confidence on a scale of 0 to 1.

object

The verified CAC business record.

Show data fields

string

CAC registration number.

string

Registered company name.

string

Registration status (e.g. ACTIVE).

string

Date of incorporation in ISO 8601 format.

string

Registered head office address.

string

Registered branch office address, if any.

string

Company city.

string

Company state.

string

Local Government Area.

string

Business entity type.

string

Registered company email address.

string

Company classification (e.g. Business).

string

Registered business activities.

Declared share capital.

Share capital written out in words.

number

Count of registered affiliates. Use the Premium endpoint to retrieve their full details.

object

Request metadata.

Show meta fields

string

Unique request identifier for auditing and support.

string

UTC response timestamp in ISO 8601 format.

Premium endpoint

`POST /v1/ng/cac-premium/`

The Premium endpoint returns the complete CAC company profile for enhanced business verification, ownership screening, and regulatory compliance. It accepts the same headers and request body as the Basic endpoint.

Additional response fields

The Premium response includes all Basic fields plus an affiliatesData array on the data object.

array

Complete list of company affiliates, including directors, shareholders, officers, and presenters.

Show affiliatesData item fields

string

Affiliate surname.

string

Affiliate first name.

string

Middle or other names.

string

Registered email address.

string

Contact phone number.

string

Gender.

string

Occupation.

string

Nationality.

string

Identity document number.

string

Residential address.

string

Date of birth.

string

Date of appointment to the company.

object

Role within the company — Director, Shareholder, Presenter, etc. Contains a name string field.

number

Number of shares allocated to this affiliate.

object

Residential address information.

object

Persons with Significant Control (PSC) details, including pscHoldsSharesOrInterest and pscVotingRights booleans.

Premium response example

{
  "data": {
    "companyName": "LUMIERE TECHNOLOGIES",
    "rcNumber": "1234567",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "affiliatesData": [
      {
        "firstname": "JOSEPH",
        "surname": "UGBA",
        "email": "josephugba@gmail.com",
        "phoneNumber": "7049934545",
        "occupation": "Legal Practitioner",
        "nationality": "NIGERIA",
        "affiliateType": {
          "name": "PRESENTER"
        },
        "affiliatesPscInformation": {
          "pscHoldsSharesOrInterest": false,
          "pscVotingRights": false
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Error codes

HTTP	Code	Resolution
400	`CAC_VERIFICATION_FAILED`	Verification failed. Confirm the registration number and retry.
400	`CAC_NOT_FOUND`	No company exists for the supplied registration number.
401	`INVALID_API_KEY`	Verify your API credentials.
401	`UNAPPROVED_ORGANIZATION`	Complete organization approval before using the Production API.
401	`SUBSCRIPTION_REQUIRED`	Enable CAC Verification from the LumiID Console.
402	`INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS`	Fund your LumiID wallet before retrying.
500	`SERVER_ERROR`	Unexpected internal error. Retry once.
503	`SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE`	The CAC service is temporarily unavailable. Retry with exponential backoff.
504	`TIMEOUT`	The verification request timed out. Retry after a short delay.

Recommended KYB flow

Follow this workflow to achieve the highest level of business assurance before onboarding a company.

Verify the CAC RC Number

Call POST /v1/ng/cac-basic/ with the company’s RC number to confirm it is registered and active with the CAC.

Retrieve the Premium profile (if EDD is required)

Call POST /v1/ng/cac-premium/ to obtain the full corporate profile, including directors, shareholders, and PSC information, for any company requiring Enhanced Due Diligence.

Screen directors and shareholders via AML

Run the individuals returned in affiliatesData through your AML or watchlist screening system to check for sanctions, PEP status, or adverse media.

Proceed with onboarding

After all checks pass, activate the merchant or business account with a complete audit trail.

This workflow helps you reduce onboarding fraud, detect shell companies, validate legal entities, and satisfy KYB and AML compliance requirements.

Code example

Python

import requests

url = "https://api.lumiid.com/v1/ng/cac-basic/"

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_SECRET_KEY",
    "X-App-ID": "YOUR_APPLICATION_ID",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

payload = {
    "reg_number": "RC1234567"
}

response = requests.post(
    url,
    json=payload,
    headers=headers
)

print(response.json())

Security and compliance

All company records are retrieved directly from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
All API requests must use HTTPS.
Every verification includes a unique request_id for auditing and troubleshooting.
Handle business information in accordance with applicable data protection and corporate compliance regulations.
Process Premium corporate ownership information only where there is a lawful business purpose.

Get Started

General

Government Verification

Business Verification

Biometric & AML

SDKs & Integration

Reference

CAC Business Verification API: Nigerian RC Number Lookup

Overview

Verification tiers

Basic

Premium

Basic endpoint

`POST /v1/ng/cac-basic/`

Headers

Request body

Success response

Response fields

Premium endpoint

`POST /v1/ng/cac-premium/`

Additional response fields

Premium response example

Error codes

Recommended KYB flow

Code example

Security and compliance

​Overview

​Verification tiers

​Basic

​Premium

​Basic endpoint

​POST /v1/ng/cac-basic/

​Headers

​Request body

​Success response

​Response fields

​Premium endpoint

​POST /v1/ng/cac-premium/

​Additional response fields

​Premium response example

​Error codes

​Recommended KYB flow

​Code example

​Security and compliance

Overview

Verification tiers

Basic

Premium

Basic endpoint

`POST /v1/ng/cac-basic/`

Headers

Request body

Success response

Response fields

Premium endpoint

`POST /v1/ng/cac-premium/`

Additional response fields

Premium response example

Error codes

Recommended KYB flow

Code example

Security and compliance