> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sakawave.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a transfer recipient

> Creates a provider-neutral recipient identity — who you are paying, not how. Routing comes next, as one or more payment details. A recipient with no details cannot be paid.

## More is required than looks likely

`relationship`, `email`, and a full `address` are **required**, because payout providers ask for them. Omitting them here is not a shortcut — it produces a recipient that cannot be turned into a destination, and the refusal arrives later as `422 recipient_profile_incomplete`.

The name fields depend on `type`:

| `type` | Also required |
| - | - |
| `individual` | `firstName` and `lastName` |
| `business` | `legalName` |

<Note>The recipient address is not shaped like a customer address. There is no `line2`, both `state` and `stateOrProvince` are accepted, and `line1` and `city` need at least two characters.</Note>

## Error codes

| Status | `code` | Cause |
| - | - | - |
| `400` | `validation_failed` | A field failed validation, an unknown field was sent, or the name fields do not match `type`. |
| `401` | `INVALID_API_KEY` | The key is missing, invalid, inactive, expired, from the other environment, or blocked by its IP allowlist. |
| `429` | `api_key_rate_limit_exceeded` | The per-minute limit for this key was exceeded. |


## OpenAPI

````yaml /openapi.json post /v1/transfer-recipients
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Sakawave Business API
  version: 1.0.0-draft
  summary: >-
    Accounts, transfers, FX quotes, and transaction reconciliation for Sakawave
    businesses.
  description: >-
    Generated from the public NestJS controllers and their Zod request schemas.
    Public URLs and policy statements remain draft until the Phase 1 contract
    checklist is approved.
  contact:
    name: Sakawave API Support
    email: api-support@sakawave.example
servers:
  - url: https://sandbox-api.sakawave.example
    description: Sandbox (default)
  - url: https://api.sakawave.example
    description: Live
security:
  - bearerAuth: []
tags:
  - name: Bill payments
    description: Browse the biller catalog, validate a customer, and pay a bill.
  - name: Cards
    description: Issue, fund, and control USD virtual and disposable cards.
  - name: eSIM
    description: >-
      Sell mobile data abroad: browse the catalog, buy an eSIM, and manage it
      once installed.
  - name: Currencies and countries
    description: >-
      Reference data: what may be held, what may be sent where, and which
      jurisdictions are served.
  - name: Customers
    description: Create and manage customers of your business.
  - name: Accounts
    description: >-
      Open business and customer accounts, and issue the destinations that fund
      them.
  - name: Transfer destinations
    description: Resolve temporary destinations and saved recipients.
  - name: FX quotes
    description: Create and retrieve time-limited cross-currency quotes.
  - name: Transfers
    description: Preview, create, and monitor transfers.
  - name: Transactions
    description: Read ledger entries for reconciliation.
paths:
  /v1/transfer-recipients:
    post:
      tags:
        - Transfer destinations
      summary: Create a transfer recipient
      description: >-
        Creates a provider-neutral recipient identity — who you are paying, not
        how. Routing comes next, as one or more payment details. A recipient
        with no details cannot be paid.
      operationId: createTransferRecipient
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/CreateRecipientRequest'
            example:
              type: individual
              displayName: Ada Okafor
              firstName: Ada
              lastName: Okafor
              relationship: vendor
              email: ada@example.com
              phoneNumber: '+2348012345678'
              address:
                line1: 14 Marina Road
                city: Lagos
                stateOrProvince: Lagos
                postalCode: '100001'
                country: NG
      responses:
        '201':
          description: Successful response.
          headers:
            X-Request-ID:
              description: >-
                The request identifier assigned by Sakawave. Include it in
                support requests.
              schema:
                type: string
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/RecipientResponse'
              example:
                id: 01K2Z3AB4G5H6J7K8MNPQRSTVW
                type: individual
                displayName: Ada Okafor
                relationship: vendor
                email: ada@example.com
                phoneNumber: '+2348012345678'
                address: null
                defaultPaymentDetailId: 01K2Z3AB4Q5R6S7T8VWXYZABCD
                paymentDetails:
                  - id: 01K2Z3AB4Q5R6S7T8VWXYZABCD
                    recipientId: 01K2Z3AB4G5H6J7K8MNPQRSTVW
                    routeId: 01K2Z3AB4M5N6P7Q8RSTVWXYZA
                    paymentMethod: bank-transfer
                    currency: KES
                    country: KE
                    accountHolderName: Ada Okafor
                    institutionName: Example Bank
                    maskedIdentifier: •••• 6789
                    isDefault: true
                    providerLocked: false
                    createdAt: '2026-08-14T09:06:00.000Z'
                createdAt: '2026-08-14T09:05:00.000Z'
        '400':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/ValidationError'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/AuthenticationError'
        '429':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/RateLimitError'
        '500':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/ServerError'
      security:
        - bearerAuth: []
components:
  schemas:
    CreateRecipientRequest:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: false
      properties:
        type:
          type: string
          enum:
            - individual
            - business
          description: Decides which name fields are required.
        displayName:
          type: string
          minLength: 2
          maxLength: 200
          description: What you call this recipient. Shown on destinations and transfers.
        firstName:
          type: string
          maxLength: 100
          description: Required when type is individual.
        lastName:
          type: string
          maxLength: 100
          description: Required when type is individual.
        legalName:
          type: string
          maxLength: 200
          description: Required when type is business.
        relationship:
          type: string
          minLength: 2
          maxLength: 80
          description: >-
            How this recipient relates to you, such as vendor or supplier.
            Required — payout providers ask for it.
        email:
          type: string
          format: email
          description: Required. Payout providers ask for it.
        phoneNumber:
          type: string
          maxLength: 24
        address:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/RecipientAddressInput'
      required:
        - type
        - displayName
        - relationship
        - email
        - address
    RecipientResponse:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: false
      properties:
        id:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Ulid'
        type:
          type: string
          enum:
            - individual
            - business
        displayName:
          type: string
        relationship:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
            - type: 'null'
        email:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
              format: email
            - type: 'null'
        phoneNumber:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
            - type: 'null'
        address:
          anyOf:
            - type: object
              additionalProperties: true
            - type: 'null'
        defaultPaymentDetailId:
          anyOf:
            - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Ulid'
            - type: 'null'
        paymentDetails:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentDetailResponse'
        createdAt:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/IsoTimestamp'
      required:
        - id
        - type
        - displayName
        - relationship
        - email
        - phoneNumber
        - address
        - defaultPaymentDetailId
        - paymentDetails
        - createdAt
    RecipientAddressInput:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: false
      properties:
        line1:
          type: string
          minLength: 2
          maxLength: 200
        city:
          type: string
          minLength: 2
          maxLength: 100
        state:
          type: string
          maxLength: 100
        stateOrProvince:
          type: string
          maxLength: 100
        postalCode:
          type: string
          maxLength: 24
        country:
          type: string
          minLength: 2
          maxLength: 2
          description: ISO 3166-1 alpha-2. Uppercased on the way in.
      required:
        - line1
        - city
        - country
    Ulid:
      type: string
      minLength: 26
      maxLength: 26
      pattern: ^[0-7][0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{25}$
      example: 01K2Z3AB4C5D6E7F8G9HJKMNPQ
      description: A 26-character ULID.
    PaymentDetailResponse:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: false
      properties:
        id:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Ulid'
        recipientId:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Ulid'
        routeId:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Ulid'
        paymentMethod:
          type: string
          enum:
            - bank-transfer
            - momo-transfer
        currency:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/DestinationCurrency'
        country:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
              minLength: 2
              maxLength: 2
            - type: 'null'
        accountHolderName:
          type: string
        institutionName:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
            - type: 'null'
        maskedIdentifier:
          type: string
          description: The last four characters of the routing identifier, masked.
        isDefault:
          type: boolean
        providerLocked:
          type: boolean
          description: >-
            True when the provider holds the routing fields and they cannot be
            edited here.
        createdAt:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/IsoTimestamp'
      required:
        - id
        - recipientId
        - routeId
        - paymentMethod
        - currency
        - country
        - accountHolderName
        - institutionName
        - maskedIdentifier
        - isDefault
        - providerLocked
        - createdAt
    IsoTimestamp:
      type: string
      format: date-time
      example: '2026-08-14T09:00:00.000Z'
    RequestError:
      anyOf:
        - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ValidationError'
        - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
      description: >-
        Either a field-level validation failure carrying an errors array, or a
        rule the request broke, identified by code.
    Error:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: true
      properties:
        statusCode:
          type: integer
        message:
          type: string
          description: >-
            A sentence suitable for a log or a support conversation, not for a
            user interface.
        code:
          type: string
          description: >-
            The stable machine-readable reason. Branch on this, never on the
            message.
      required:
        - message
        - code
      description: >-
        An error body. Individual errors may add context fields alongside these
        three.
    RateLimitError:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: false
      properties:
        statusCode:
          const: 429
        message:
          type: string
        code:
          const: api_key_rate_limit_exceeded
        retryAfterSeconds:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
      required:
        - statusCode
        - message
        - code
        - retryAfterSeconds
    DestinationCurrency:
      type: string
      enum:
        - NGN
        - USD
        - GBP
        - EUR
        - GHS
        - ZAR
        - UGX
        - CAD
        - MXN
        - AED
        - AUD
        - SGD
        - HKD
        - KES
        - TZS
        - BRL
        - CNY
        - XAF
        - PHP
        - USDC
    ValidationError:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: false
      properties:
        statusCode:
          const: 400
        message:
          type: string
          description: The single failure, or a count when more than one field failed.
        code:
          const: validation_failed
        errors:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ValidationFailure'
      required:
        - statusCode
        - message
        - code
        - errors
    ValidationFailure:
      type: object
      additionalProperties: false
      properties:
        message:
          type: string
        field:
          type: string
        code:
          type: string
        path:
          type: array
          items:
            anyOf:
              - type: string
              - type: integer
      required:
        - message
        - field
        - code
        - path
  responses:
    ValidationError:
      description: >-
        The request was rejected before it was acted on. Field failures list
        every failing field.
      headers:
        X-Request-ID:
          description: >-
            The request identifier assigned by Sakawave. Include it in support
            requests.
          schema:
            type: string
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/RequestError'
          example:
            statusCode: 400
            message: Must be a valid identifier.
            code: validation_failed
            errors:
              - message: Must be a valid identifier.
                field: accountId
                code: custom
                path:
                  - accountId
    AuthenticationError:
      description: >-
        The API key is missing, invalid, inactive, expired, for another
        environment, or blocked by its IP allowlist.
      headers:
        X-Request-ID:
          description: >-
            The request identifier assigned by Sakawave. Include it in support
            requests.
          schema:
            type: string
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
          example:
            statusCode: 401
            code: INVALID_API_KEY
            message: Invalid or inactive API credentials.
    RateLimitError:
      description: The API key rate limit was exceeded.
      headers:
        X-Request-ID:
          description: >-
            The request identifier assigned by Sakawave. Include it in support
            requests.
          schema:
            type: string
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/RateLimitError'
          example:
            statusCode: 429
            message: Too many API requests. Try again later.
            code: api_key_rate_limit_exceeded
            retryAfterSeconds: 17
    ServerError:
      description: An unexpected server error occurred.
      headers:
        X-Request-ID:
          description: >-
            The request identifier assigned by Sakawave. Include it in support
            requests.
          schema:
            type: string
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
          example:
            statusCode: 500
            code: internal_server_error
            message: An unexpected error occurred.
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      bearerFormat: Sakawave API key
      description: >-
        A secret API key, sent as `Authorization: Bearer sk_test_…` in sandbox
        or `Bearer sk_live_…` in live.

````

This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.