Issuing cards

Issuing is the process of creating a card that spends against a Core ledger account, putting it into the user's hands, and managing its lifecycle. A card can be virtual (an instant 16-digit number for online or in-app use) or physical (a plastic card that ships to the cardholder), and it can be provisioned to a digital wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet to enable contactless payments.

Use this flow when your product needs to give end users a card — consumer wallets, corporate expense programs, marketplace seller payouts on a card, or any case where you want money to be spendable directly from a ledger balance.

Before you start

You will need:

• A Core API key with the cards scope.
• A ledger account that the card will spend against.
• A spending control configuration appropriate for the cardholder.
• A webhook endpoint subscribed to card and card-transaction events.

Sequence overview

1. Create the card — call the create-card endpoint with the linked ledger account, cardholder details, and a spending control reference.
2. Activate the card — virtual cards are usable immediately; physical cards require activation by the cardholder after delivery.
3. Provision to a digital wallet (optional) — generate a wallet-provisioning token so the cardholder can add the card to Apple Pay or Google Wallet.
4. Authorize transactions — Core decides each authorization in real time using the cardholder's balance and the active spending controls. Webhooks fire on every authorization, settlement, and reversal.
5. Manage the lifecycle — freeze, unfreeze, replace, or terminate the card as needed.

Steps

The full step-by-step is pending. Until it is published, see:

• Cards concept page — data model and lifecycle.
• Spending Controls concept page — how to configure rules.
• Core cards API reference.

Next steps

• Ledger accounting — how authorizations become ledger entries.
• Best practices