Card-Creation Endpoints

This guide describes which endpoint to use when creating a card.

New customer

By far the most commonly used endpoint to create a card for a new customer is Create Account. This endpoint creates a new customer record, a new account, and a new card. You can use this endpoint to create a physical card, a virtual card or a Digital First card. With this endpoint you also have the option to load funds onto the card at the time of card creation. Do not use this endpoint for existing customers; instead, use Add Account (below).

See Creating an Account for instructions. Also see Endpoints for performing ID verification in the Customer ID Verification guide for other enrollment strategies.

Existing customer

To create an additional card for a customer who already exists in your system, use the Add Account endpoint to create a secondary account with a separate card.

See Adding an Account for instructions on using the endpoint and Primary and secondary account scenarios in the About Accounts guide to see how the account relationships are set up.

Virtual-only cards

To onboard a new customer and create a virtual-only card (one that will never be embossed), use the Create Virtual Card Account endpoint. To use this endpoint you must be PCI compliant, because the full PAN is returned in the response. The value passed in prodId must be for a virtual card. The most common use case for this endpoint is to create cards for a business to pay its vendors. For most other virtual cards you can use Create Account with a virtual product ID for prodId.

Instant-issue cards

To generate a batch of instant-issue cards, use Create Bulk Card Order. To issue an instant-issue card to an individual, use the Create Account endpoint. In the endpoint call you can omit parameters that control express delivery and ship-to addresses, because the card is already in the cardholder's hand. See Setup for Instant Issue for the complete procedure.

Temporary replacement cards

If you would like to issue a virtual card as a temporary replacement for a lost or stolen physical card, use the Add Card endpoint, which creates a new card record for the replacement card account. The prodId must be for a virtual card, not for a conventional physical card. See Temporarily issue cards for more information.

Lost or stolen cards

When a card is lost or stolen, it must be replaced, which means that a new account with a new card is created for the cardholder. Use the procedure in Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Cards to automatically create a physical replacement card. For lost or stolen virtual cards, use Add Card to create the new card.

Damaged cards

When a physical card is damaged and needs replacement, you reissue the card instead of creating a new card. See the Reissuing Cards guide for instructions.