Card Creation

Issue named and unnamed cards for your customers via API or Dashboard.

Create cards via API

We'll show you how to interact with our APIs to create and distribute named and unnamed cards.

Create named cards via API

1. Request a token

To get started, you'll need to request an authorization token to communicate with our APIs by following this documentation.

2. Create a user

You'll need to create the user. If you use our Identity solution, you'll only need to fill in their email and the operation_country. If you verify your users' identity with an external provider, you'll need to make sure you meet these requirements depending on the country where you operate:

Fill in the operation_country field with the 3-character code (ISO 3166 alpha-3 standard) of the country where you'll issue your card.
For the nationality field, we also expect an ISO 3166 alpha-3 standard code.
For security purposes, we need you to fill in the following fields: name, surname, birthdate, email, identification_type, identification_value, gender, street_name, zip_code, city, region, and country.
For tax purposes, we'll ask you to provide the tax_identification_type and tax_identification_value.
Each user must have a unique email; the combination of identification document type and value must also be unique.
The document types we accept are DNI (we'll validate that it's 7 or 8 characters long), LE, LC, CI, and PASSPORT.
The tax document type we accept is CUIL. We'll validate that the first two digits are 20, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33, or 34 and that it's exactly 11 characters long.

3. Create cards

Use this endpoint to create physical or virtual named cards. You can specify the card type in the card_type field.

If you choose to create a physical card and decide to use our distribution service, you'll need to specify the shipping address so it reaches your client.

We'll also validate that you meet the following requirements depending on the country:

You'll need to fill in the region field with the province where your client is located.
To make sure a request isn't executed more than once, we'll ask you to send the x-idempotency-key header with a unique ID to use our idempotency scheme. If two requests have the header with the same ID, we'll only create one card, and both requests will get the same successful response.

4. Activate the card

Virtual cards are created as ACTIVE, so you don't need to activate them. If you chose a physical card, your customer needs to activate it when they receive it. Learn about the methods and validations in Physical card activation.

Create unnamed cards via API

1. Request a token

To get started, you'll need to request an authorization token to communicate with our APIs by following this documentation.

2. Create cards

Create your batch of up to 1,000 unnamed cards using this endpoint. If you prefer, you can create several batches together (up to 15) using this other endpoint.

3. Create a user

Every time you decide who to assign a card to, create the user. Make sure you meet the requirements for each country, as described in Named cards.

4. Create a shipment

Create a shipment request using this endpoint, making sure you meet the requirements depending on the country where you operate:

You'll need to fill in the region field with the province where your client is located.
The courier.tracking_url field in the response will be available once the shipment is confirmed by the corresponding logistics partner. Until then, it will have a null value.

5. Activate the card

When your customer receives the card, you'll need to activate it. Learn about the methods and validations in Physical card activation.

Learn all about card status information in this documentation.

Creating cards from the Dashboard

Issuing cards from the Dashboard applies to physical and virtual cards, for any affinity group (AFG) configured on your account.

How it works

Go to the "Issued cards" section of the Dashboard and click the "Issue card" button.
Choose whether the card will be physical or virtual.
Select the affinity group (AFG) you'll use. If your account has more than one product, you'll see all available AFGs to choose the right one.
Fill in the cardholder's information. If you chose a physical card, you'll also need to provide the delivery address.
Confirm the creation.
Done! If everything went well, you can view the card instantly or go back to the list to keep working.

Physical vs. virtual

	Physical card	Virtual card
Delivery address	Required	Not applicable
Availability	Arrives within the next business days	Active and ready to use instantly
Required data	Address + cardholder data	Only the minimum cardholder data

You must have the corresponding permission to create cards from the Dashboard.

PIN Change

Your client can change their PIN at any time after activation.

Change behavior varies depending on the country of operation:

In 🇲🇽Mexico, cards use an Offline PIN for POS purchases — meaning the PIN is stored on the card's chip — and an Online PIN for ATM operations.

When you change the PIN, only the Online PIN is updated. This temporarily leaves both PINs out of sync.

To sync the Offline PIN, your client needs to complete these two steps in order:

Go to an ATM, do a balance inquiry or withdrawal, and enter the new PIN when prompted.
Make a purchase at any POS with the new PIN.

After that, the new PIN is active for all operations ✅

Checking card status

Go into a card's details to see its status, brand (Visa or Mastercard) and type (Debit, Credit, or Prepaid), its ID, who the holder is, and which affinity group it belongs to. Tap "See more details" to find even more information. You can also get a card's status via API.

Card statuses

The different statuses a card can go through are:

Status	Description
CREATED	Indicates that the card isn't active yet, so it can't be used. This status is exclusive to physical cards.
EMBOSSED	The card is being personalized. This status is exclusive to physical cards.
ACTIVE	This status indicates the card can already be used to make transactions. Virtual cards are born in this status.
BLOCKED	The card can't be used until it's re-enabled.
DISABLED	The card was deactivated and can't be used again. This is a final status.
EXPIRED	The card has passed its expiration date and can't be used again. This is a final status.

This diagram shows a card's statuses and which ones it can transition to:

If you need to, you can edit a card's status from the Dashboard or via API.

Reasons for blocking or disabling a card

To move a card to BLOCKED or DISABLED, you need to provide a valid reason in the status_reason field:

New status	Reason (`status_reason`)	Description
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`CLIENT_INTERNAL_REASON`	Your company's decision.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`USER_INTERNAL_REASON`	Requested by the end user.
`DISABLED`	`PROVIDER_INTERNAL_REASON`	Issue during embossing.
`DISABLED`	`LOST`	The card was lost.
`DISABLED`	`STOLEN`	The card was stolen.
`DISABLED`	`BROKEN`	The card was damaged.
`DISABLED`	`UPGRADE`	It was replaced by a higher-tier card.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`ACQUIRER_ALERT`	Recommended by the acquirer.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`FRAUD_SUSPECTED`	Suspected fraud.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`ADC_ALERT`	Recommended by the card network.
`DISABLED`	`CLIENT_FRAUD_DETECTION`	Data leak detected.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`BIN_ATTACK`	BIN attack.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`CHARGEBACK_ABUSE`	Chargeback abuse.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`DATA_LEAK`	PAN data was leaked.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`SUSPECTED_MONEY_LAUNDERING`	Suspected money laundering.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`ACCOUNT_CANCELED`	The associated account or credit line was canceled.
`BLOCKED` / `DISABLED`	`PIN_LIMIT_EXCEEDED`	PIN attempt limit exceeded.

Check which stage of the lifecycle each card is in from the Dashboard.
Things to keep in mind:

Virtual cards have no lifecycle or shipping details. They're born active and ready to use.
Unnamed cards will only show information once your client activates them.
If the card is a credit card, you'll be able to see general data about the associated credit line.
If the card is a debit card, you'll see the data for the associated account.
If the card is blocked or deactivated, it can't be used to operate. We'll let you know with an alert.

Latest transactions

From the card detail view in the Dashboard, you can also quickly see the latest operations carried out with each card.

Frequently asked questions

While the PINs remain "out of sync," which one should my client use to make a purchase?
They should use the previous PIN. Since POS purchases use the Offline PIN (which hasn't been updated yet), the new PIN won't work until the client completes the ATM step.

My user's cards got blocked, why could that be?
Cards have a limit on Offline PIN attempts stored on the chip. If that limit is exceeded, the card is automatically blocked.

What happens if the card gets blocked for exceeding the maximum number of offline PIN attempts?
The client needs to change their PIN. This resets the attempt counter and unblocks the card.

Card Creation

Create cards via API

Create named cards via API

1. Request a token

2. Create a user

3. Create cards

4. Activate the card

Create unnamed cards via API

1. Request a token

2. Create cards

3. Create a user

4. Create a shipment

5. Activate the card

Creating cards from the Dashboard

How it works

Physical vs. virtual

PIN Change

Checking card status

Card statuses

Reasons for blocking or disabling a card

Latest transactions

Frequently asked questions

Pomelo AI