# Get Categories

**Endpoint**: `GET /categories`

**Description**: Retrieves a list of available bill categories.

**Authentication**: Basic Auth (Username, Password)

**Response**:

**200 OK**: Returns a JSON array of category objects.

***

### Sample Implementation

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Curl" %}
{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```javascript
curl --request GET \
  --url 'http://154.113.16.142:9999/provipay/webapi/categories' \
  --header 'Authorization: Basic <base64-encoded-username:password>'
```

{% endcode %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Python" %}

```python
import requests

headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Basic <base64-encoded-username:password>'
}

response = requests.get('http://154.113.16.142:9999/provipay/webapi/categories', headers=headers)
if response.status_code == 200:
    print(response.json())
else:
    print(response.reason)
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Java" %}

```java
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        URL url = new URL("http://154.113.16.142:9999/provipay/webapi/categories");
        HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
        conn.setRequestMethod("GET");
        conn.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic <base64-encoded-username:password>");

        int responseCode = conn.getResponseCode();
        if (responseCode == 200) {
            BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream()));
            String inputLine;
            StringBuilder response = new StringBuilder();
            while ((inputLine = in.readLine()) != null) {
                response.append(inputLine);
            }
            in.close();
            System.out.println(response.toString());
        } else {
            System.out.println(conn.getResponseMessage());
        }
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript" %}

```javascript
const headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Basic <base64-encoded-username:password>'
};

fetch('http://154.113.16.142:9999/provipay/webapi/categories', {
    method: 'GET',
    headers: headers
})
.then(response => {
    if (response.ok) {
        return response.json();
    }
    throw new Error(response.statusText);
})
.then(data => console.log(data))
.catch(error => console.error(error));
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="PHP" %}

```php
<?php
$ch = curl_init();

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "http://154.113.16.142:9999/provipay/webapi/categories");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    'Authorization: Basic <base64-encoded-username:password>'
]);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
$httpCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);

if ($httpCode == 200) {
    echo $response;
} else {
    echo curl_error($ch);
}

curl_close($ch);
?>
```

> The above command returns JSON structured like this:

```json
{
    "banks":[
        {"bankCode":"000014","bankName":"ACCESS BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"100013","bankName":"ACCESS MOBILE"},
        {"bankCode":"090133","bankName":"AL-BARAKAH MICROFINANCE BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"090116","bankName":"AMML MICROFINANCE BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"090001","bankName":"ASO SAVINGS"},
        {"bankCode":"090127","bankName":"BC KASH MICROFINANCE BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"090117","bankName":"BOCTRUST MICROFINANCE BANK LIMITED"},
        {"bankCode":"100005","bankName":"CELLULANT"},
        {"bankCode":"100015","bankName":"CHAMS MOBILE"},
        {"bankCode":"000009","bankName":"CITI BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"060001","bankName":"CORONATION BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"070006","bankName":"COVENANT MFB"},
        {"bankCode":"000005","bankName":"DIAMOND BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"100021","bankName":"EARTHOLEUM"},
        {"bankCode":"000010","bankName":"ECOBANK"},
        {"bankCode":"100008","bankName":"ECOBANK XPRESS ACCOUNT"},
        {"bankCode":"090114","bankName":"EMPIRE TRUST MICROFINANCE BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"000019","bankName":"ENTERPRISE BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"100006","bankName":"eTRANZACT"},
        {"bankCode":"060002","bankName":"FBN MERCHANT BANK"},
        {"bankCode":"100014","bankName":"FBN MOBILE"}
    ],
    "responseMessage":"SUCCESS",
    "responseCode":"00"}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="C#" %}

```csharp
using System;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

class Program
{
    static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        using (var client = new HttpClient())
        {
            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Basic <base64-encoded-username:password>");

            var response = await client.GetAsync("http://154.113.16.142:9999/provipay/webapi/categories");
            if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
            {
                var content = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
                Console.WriteLine(content);
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine(response.ReasonPhrase);
            }
        }
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

**Example Response**:

```json
[
    {
        "category_id": 1,
        "list_order": "1",
        "name": "Airtime TopUp"
    },
    {
        "category_id": 1007,
        "list_order": "1",
        "name": "Transportation"
    },
    ...
]
```


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://developer.providusbank.com/provi-bill/get-categories.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.