Card API Concepts
Understand the core concepts behind the Card API — card-level data access for cardholder cards, transactions, and payment accounts.
Card API Concepts
The Card API provides card-level data access for partners who need to view cardholder cards, transactions, and payment accounts. Unlike the Distributor API (which is scoped to distributors and their card programs), the Card API is scoped to individual cards and their associated data.
When to Use the Card API
Use the Card API when you need to:
- View cards associated with a specific cardholder
- Access transaction history for individual cards
- View payment accounts linked to cards
- Access linked bank account transactions
The Card API is a read-oriented API — it provides visibility into card-level data rather than management operations.
Core Entities
Cardholder Cards
A cardholder card represents an individual card issued to a cardholder. Each card is associated with a distributor card (card program) and has its own transaction history and payment accounts.
The Card API allows you to:
- List cards within your access scope
- View card details including status and associated distributor card
Transactions
Transactions represent card activity — purchases, refunds, and other financial events processed through the card network. The Card API provides:
- Transaction history for specific cards
- Transaction details including amount, merchant, and status
- Filtering and pagination for large transaction sets
Payment Accounts
Payment accounts are funding sources linked to a card. These may include:
- Payment gateway accounts (created via the Payment API)
- Currency-based payment accounts (created via the Currency API)
The Card API provides read access to payment account information associated with cards.
Payment Account Transactions
Payment account transactions track activity related to specific payment accounts — funding events, balance changes, and settlement activity.
Linked Bank Account Transactions
Linked bank account transactions provide visibility into bank account activity connected to cards.
Relationship to Other APIs
| API | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Distributor API | Distributor API manages card programs and distributors; Card API accesses card-level data within those programs |
| Payment API | Payment accounts visible in Card API are created and managed through the Payment API |
| Currency API | Currency-based accounts visible in Card API are created and managed through the Currency API |
| Webhook API | Transaction events delivered via webhooks correspond to transactions visible in the Card API |
Distributor Cards (Card Programs)
A distributor card (also called a card program) is a template that defines how cards are issued. The Card API lets you list the distributor cards within your scope. Each distributor card belongs to a distributor, and cardholders receive cards issued under these programs.
Transaction States
Transactions progress through a lifecycle of states:
| State | Description |
|---|---|
authorized | Transaction approved; funds are held but not yet moved |
cleared | Transaction finalized; funds have been moved |
reversed | Authorization was reversed before clearing |
cancelled | Transaction was cancelled |
When querying transaction history, you may see transactions in any of these states. The card_transaction_state_logs on each transaction provide the full history of state changes.
Filtering and Sorting
Card API list endpoints support filtering and sorting:
- Pagination — All list endpoints support
pageandper_pageparameters (see Pagination and Rate Limits) - Sorting — Transaction lists support
sort(e.g.,created_at,total_amount) andsort_direction(ascordesc) - Date filtering — Filter transactions by date range using
fromandtoquery parameters
Data Scoping
Card API data is scoped to the distributor cards (card programs) associated with your partner account. You only see cards, transactions, and payment accounts for cards issued under those programs. See API Scoping and Permissions for details.
Related Guides
- API Authentication and Credentials — How to authenticate API requests
- API Scoping and Permissions — How data is scoped to your partner account
- Pagination and Rate Limits — Paginating list responses
- Card API Reference — Full endpoint documentation
Updated about 2 months ago