Issue a card

Issue a new card for a cardholder. Every card must be bound to at least one funding source at create time. The cardholder must have KYC status APPROVED before a card can be issued; otherwise the request is rejected with CARDHOLDER_KYC_NOT_APPROVED.

New cards start in state: "PENDING_ISSUE" while the card issuer provisions the card. The card.state_change webhook fires on the transition to ACTIVE (or to CLOSED with stateReason: "ISSUER_REJECTED" if provisioning fails).

POST /cards

cURL

cURL

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.lightspark.com/grid/2025-10-13/cards \
  --header 'Authorization: Basic <encoded-value>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '
{
  "cardholderId": "Customer:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000001",
  "platformCardId": "card-emp-aary-001",
  "form": "VIRTUAL",
  "fundingSources": [
    "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000002"
  ]
}
'

201

{
  "id": "Card:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000010",
  "cardholderId": "Customer:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000001",
  "fundingSources": [
    "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000002",
    "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000003"
  ],
  "createdAt": "2026-05-08T14:10:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-08T14:11:00Z",
  "platformCardId": "card-emp-aary-001",
  "last4": "4242",
  "expMonth": 12,
  "expYear": 2029,
  "panEmbedUrl": "https://embed.lithic.com/iframe/...?t=...",
  "currency": "USD",
  "issuerRef": "lithic_card_4f8d3a2b1c"
}

Authorizations

Authorization · string · header · required

API token authentication using format <api token id>:<api client secret>

Body

application/json

cardholderId · string · required

The id of the Customer to issue the card to. The customer must have KYC status APPROVED; otherwise the request is rejected with CARDHOLDER_KYC_NOT_APPROVED.

Example:

"Customer:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000001"

form · enum<string> · required

Physical form factor of the card. Only VIRTUAL is supported in v1; PHYSICAL will be added in a later release.

Available options: VIRTUAL

fundingSources · string[] · required

Internal account ids to bind as funding sources, in priority order. The first entry is tried first by Authorization Decisioning. Every card must be bound to at least one source, and every source must belong to the cardholder and be denominated in a card-eligible currency (USDB in v1); otherwise the request is rejected with FUNDING_SOURCE_INELIGIBLE.

Minimum array length: 1

Example:

[
  "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000002"
]

platformCardId · string

Optional platform-specific card identifier. System-generated when omitted, mirroring platformCustomerId semantics.

Example:

"card-emp-aary-001"

Response

201

application/json

Card issued successfully

id · string · required · read-only

System-generated unique card identifier

Example:

"Card:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000010"

cardholderId · string · required

The id of the Customer who holds this card.

Example:

"Customer:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000001"

state · enum<string> · required

Lifecycle state of a card.

State	Description
PENDING_KYC	The cardholder has not yet completed KYC. Cards in this state cannot transact.
PENDING_ISSUE	The card has been requested and is being provisioned with the issuer.
ACTIVE	The card is live and can authorize transactions.
FROZEN	The card is temporarily disabled by the platform. New authorizations are declined with CARD_PAUSED. Existing settlements and refunds continue to reconcile.
CLOSED	The card is permanently closed. Terminal, irreversible state.

Available options: PENDING_KYC, PENDING_ISSUE, ACTIVE, FROZEN, CLOSED

form · enum<string> · required

Physical form factor of the card. Only VIRTUAL is supported in v1; PHYSICAL will be added in a later release.

Available options: VIRTUAL

fundingSources · string[] · required

Internal account ids bound to this card as funding sources, in priority order — the first entry is tried first by Authorization Decisioning. Every card has at least one funding source.

Example:

[
  "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000002",
  "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000003"
]

createdAt · string<date-time> · required · read-only

Creation timestamp

Example:

"2026-05-08T14:10:00Z"

updatedAt · string<date-time> · required · read-only

Last update timestamp

Example:

"2026-05-08T14:11:00Z"

platformCardId · string

Platform-specific card identifier. Optional on create — system-generated if omitted, mirroring platformCustomerId semantics.

Example:

"card-emp-aary-001"

stateReason · enum<string> | null

Reason associated with the current state. Populated when the card is CLOSED or when provisioning was rejected; otherwise null.

Available options: ISSUER_REJECTED, CLOSED_BY_PLATFORM, CLOSED_BY_GRID

brand · enum<string>

Card network brand. Read-only — determined by Grid when the card is provisioned with the issuer.

Available options: VISA, MASTERCARD

last4 · string

Last four digits of the card PAN.

Example:

"4242"

expMonth · integer

Card expiration month (1–12).

Required range: 1 <= x <= 12

Example:

12

expYear · integer

Card expiration year (four digits).

Example:

2029

panEmbedUrl · string<uri>

URL of the card issuer's iframe that securely displays the PAN, CVV, and expiry to the cardholder. The full PAN and CVV never cross Grid's servers — render this URL in an iframe in your client to reveal card details.

Example:

"https://embed.lithic.com/iframe/...?t=..."

currency · string · read-only

Currency the card transacts in (ISO 4217 for fiat, tickers for crypto). Derived from the funding sources at issue time — all funding sources bound to a card must be denominated in the same card-eligible currency.

Example:

"USD"

issuerRef · string · read-only

Opaque identifier for the card on the underlying issuer. Useful for cross-referencing in issuer dashboards; not used for any Grid request routing.

Example:

"lithic_card_4f8d3a2b1c"