Harbor Basics
This section provides a brief, high-level walkthrough of the Harbor ecosystem and introduces key concepts you’ll encounter throughout the integration, including applications, customers, and transfers.
Application
Once you have access to the Harbor Portal and API, you will be assigned an application associated with your organization. Your application serves as the primary container for your Harbor activity, including the customers you create and the transfers you initiate.
The application makes the following distinctions:
- Harbor: Refers to us, the platform and service provider.
- Application: Refers to you, the integration partner using the Harbor API.
- Customer: Refers to the individuals or businesses managed by an Application.
Customers
Within your application, you can create and manage Customers through the Harbor Portal or API. Customers can be either individuals or businesses, and you can execute transfers on their behalf through the Portal or API.
Before you can execute transfers on behalf of a Customer, the Customer must complete the required verification process: KYC for individuals and KYB for businesses.
Due to compliance requirements Harbor manages this verification process, which we refer to as Onboarding.
Can I be a Customer of my own application?
Yes. If your organization also wants to process transfers through Harbor, you can onboard your organization as a Business Customer within your own application and initiate the KYB onboarding process.
Onboarding
Before transfers can be initiated on behalf of a Customer, the Customer must complete the required Onboarding process.
Sandbox vs. Production
- In Sandbox, onboarding is approved automatically, usually within 1–2 minutes.
- In Production, Harbor reviews each submission, which can take 1–2 business days.
Onboarding consists of two main steps:
Step 1: Accept the agreement
The Customer receives a link to review and accept the required service agreement.
Step 2: Provide information
After accepting the agreement, the Customer provides the information required for verification. For individuals, this includes personal and identity information. For businesses, this includes business information and details about associated individuals.
Harbor uses this information to complete the required KYC or KYB verification.
Can I submit customer information through the API?
Yes. Customer information can be submitted either through the hosted link page using the provided forms or programmatically through the Harbor API using the available endpoints.
Transfers
Transfers can be initiated on behalf of a customer, whether an individual or a business, once their onboarding is complete. A transfer can be an on-ramp, an off-ramp, or an on-chain transfer.
The transfer process has four main steps.
Step 1: Create a quote
Create a quote by gathering the source, the destination, and the commission for the transfer.
Step 2: Obtain the transfer requirements
Once the quote is created, obtain the requirements needed to complete the transfer. Requirements are dynamic: the fields a transfer needs depend on its corridor and payment method. For example, a USD wire to Mexico needs different recipient and bank details than a payout in Hong Kong. Fetching the requirements for each quote tells you exactly what to collect for that transfer.
Step 3: Execute the transfer
Execute the transfer using the quote and the transfer requirements from Step 2.
Step 4: Complete the transfer instructions
Once the transfer is created, the response includes the transfer instructions: where and how the Customer sends the funds, and the deadline for sending them. Harbor processes the transfer only after the Customer completes these instructions.
Updated about 18 hours ago