Getting Started with the Bloc API

Developers and engineering teams use the Bloc API to build custom use cases on top of our infrastructure. If you have a FinTech app or website, you can connect to Bloc and start to offer services like account creation, transfers, receiving payments, etc without having to start from scratch — a very costly and time-consuming adventure.

In this article, you will learn about our Bloc API, how to get started, and ways to embed them into your product.

Things to note

1. Bloc offers FinTech infrastructure products and services. We don't build apps for anyone. We only provide the best support to your engineering team to ensure that integration is as seamless as possible.
2. We are duly licensed (powered by Bloc Microfinance Bank, and other licensed banking partners). You don't need a licence to integrate our APIs unless otherwise stated.

Before you start

1. You'll need to have an account with Bloc. You can't do anything without this step.
2. Make sure you are familiar with our products and the general basics of integrating APIs.
3. We always suggest that you have an idea of how you want to use Bloc to solve your problems before you begin integration.

Let's get started

To get started with integrating the Bloc API, you need to do the following:

1. Sign up with Bloc
2. Complete your business verification
3. Access the API documentation
4. Get your API credentials
5. Start integrating
6. Review next steps

Sign up with Bloc

To create a new account with Bloc, go to our website and sign up.

1. Provide your name, business name, contact details and every other information required, and submit.
2. Click on the email verification link we send to you, and you're in!

If you already have an account with Bloc, feel free to sign in to your dashboard with this link.

If you have problems with sign-in, read this article: Can't Sign Into Your Account

Complete your account setup

When you are logged in, you are automatically in Test Mode. You cannot go to Live Mode without completing and verifying your business details. To complete your account setup:

1. How to verify your business on Bloc
2. Add your teammates

How to switch to live mode

To switch to live mode, go to the "Settings" page > "Developer" menu and enable the Access Developer Tools tab. This grants you access to developer features that provide a range of benefits, enabling you to access back-office operations and perform advanced actions.

Once you enable it, you will see a live mode toggle at the top of your screen, indicating you're in live mode. You can also hit the toggle to access the developer sandbox (test) environment if you do not wish to perform live transactions yet.

Read the API documentation.

You cannot integrate the Bloc API without our documentation. In fact, to get anything done with our API, you'll need the documentation to make sure you connect rightly with our infrastructure.

Our API Documentation v2.0B is designed to the smallest detail to make sure you get all of the support you need. You can also use our API reference to interact with our infrastructure and see how we handle requests and responses.

Read our API Docs here: API Documentation v2.0

Get your API Credentials

You are ready to start testing and building with our infrastructure. You need your API keys to authenticate your connection with our servers. We use API keys to identify that you are a legitimate connection.

• To get your API keys, go to the "Settings" page > "Developer" menu, enable the Access Developer Tools tab, and your API Keys will appear on the page.
• To access your test mode keys, toggle the live mode button at the top right of your screen. You'll be presented with the test environment, and you can now go ahead to copy your test keys from the page.

1. Secret key: They authenticate all transactions and API requests sent from your platform. As the name states, they are meant to be kept secret. If, for any reason, you believe your secret key has been compromised, you can create a new one from the Developer page.
2. Public key: This is meant to be used from your front end when integrating our widget (or any client-side component). Basically, public keys cannot modify any changes to your account except for initiating transactions with you.

Start integrating

Good luck!

If you ever run into a problem, you can chat with our Technical Support team using the Support widget on the bottom left of the dashboard or email [email protected].

Next steps

During integration, it is common to run into many problems as a result of an oversight or a misunderstanding of our API docs. Check out the following if you are ever experiencing this:

• Join our Partners Slack community
• Troubleshooting your API integration