Get started with currencies and countries

Two reads, and by the end you will know exactly which currencies your integration can offer and what a payout to one of them needs.

export SAKAWAVE_API_KEY='sk_test_replace_with_your_key'
export SAKAWAVE_BASE_URL='https://sandbox-api.sakawave.example'

1. Ask a narrow question

Listing every currency is rarely what you want. Filter by the capability you are about to use.

curl --request GET \
  --url "$SAKAWAVE_BASE_URL/v1/currencies?capability=account_issuance" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $SAKAWAVE_API_KEY"

const response = await fetch(
  `${process.env.SAKAWAVE_BASE_URL}/v1/currencies?capability=account_issuance`,
  { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SAKAWAVE_API_KEY}` } },
);

const currencies = await response.json();
console.log(currencies.map((currency) => currency.code));

import os
import requests

response = requests.get(
    f"{os.environ['SAKAWAVE_BASE_URL']}/v1/currencies",
    params={"capability": "account_issuance"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['SAKAWAVE_API_KEY']}"},
    timeout=30,
)
print([currency["code"] for currency in response.json()])

The response is a plain array, sorted by code:

[
  {
    "code": "NGN",
    "name": "Nigerian Naira",
    "symbol": "₦",
    "minorUnits": 2,
    "accountIssuanceEnabled": true,
    "transferEnabled": true,
    "fxEnabled": true,
    "ownTransferEnabled": true,
    "tagTransferEnabled": true,
    "externalTransferEnabled": true,
    "isActive": true,
    "updatedAt": "2026-08-14T08:00:00.000Z"
  }
]

Two things to take from it:

minorUnits is the number your arithmetic needs. Store it next to every amount you handle. 2 for most currencies, 0 for UGX, 8 for crypto.
The six booleans are independent. A currency you can hold is not necessarily one you can convert. Pick the switch that matches the operation you are about to attempt.

2. Ask what can deliver

Now the other direction: you want to pay someone in Kenyan shillings.

curl --request GET \
  --url "$SAKAWAVE_BASE_URL/v1/currencies/KES/routes?country=KE" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $SAKAWAVE_API_KEY"

Each route carries the id you will send as routeId, and the exact fields that route needs:

[
  {
    "id": "01K2Z3AB4M5N6P7Q8RSTVWXYZA",
    "name": "Kenya bank transfer",
    "destinationCurrency": "KES",
    "destinationCountry": "KE",
    "scheme": "pesalink",
    "paymentMethod": "bank-transfer",
    "requiredFields": ["bankCode", "accountNumber"],
    "fieldDescriptors": [
      { "key": "bankCode", "label": "Bank", "type": "select", "required": true, "options": [{ "value": "001", "label": "Example Bank" }] },
      { "key": "accountNumber", "label": "Account number", "type": "text", "required": true, "minLength": 6, "maxLength": 20 }
    ],
    "settlementTiming": "same_day",
    "minimumAmount": "10000",
    "maximumAmount": "100000000",
    "institutionDirectoryEnabled": true,
    "isDefault": true
  }
]

fieldDescriptors is the point of the call. It is a form specification: render those fields, with those labels, those constraints, and those options, and the payment detail you build from them will validate.

An empty array is a valid answer. The currency code is not checked against the currency list, so [] means “nothing delivers there”, not “you asked wrongly”.

3. Populate the country picker

No credentials needed for this one.

curl --request GET --url "$SAKAWAVE_BASE_URL/countries"

{
  "countries": [
    { "code": "NG", "code3": "NGA", "name": "Nigeria", "dialCode": "+234", "flag": "🇳🇬" }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

Cache it for a day — the response says so with Cache-Control: public, max-age=86400. Use code for every jurisdiction and address.country field you send.

Which endpoint for which job

You are…	Call
Drawing a currency picker	`GET /v1/currencies?capability=…`
Drawing a payout form	`GET /v1/transfer-corridors` — it resolves currency and country data too
Already know the currency, need `routeId`	`GET /v1/currencies/{code}/routes`
Drawing a country or phone-prefix picker	`GET /countries`

Capabilities and corridors — which switch is checked where
Use cases — caching, prechecks, and driving forms

Getting Started

Platform Guides

Currencies and countries

Customers

Accounts

Recipients and destinations

Transfers

Cards

Bill payments

eSIM

Tutorials

Webhooks

Get started with currencies and countries

1. Ask a narrow question

2. Ask what can deliver

3. Populate the country picker

Which endpoint for which job

Next

​1. Ask a narrow question

​2. Ask what can deliver

​3. Populate the country picker

​Which endpoint for which job

​Next

1. Ask a narrow question

2. Ask what can deliver

3. Populate the country picker

Which endpoint for which job

Next