LIlightsparkdev
Cards

Issue a card

Changed on

Issue a new card for a cardholder. Every card is bound to one internal account, fundingSource, 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.

Card issuance is fee-bearing and cannot be reversed, so an Idempotency-Key header is required. Retries must carry the same key.

Configure card velocity limits through POST /card-velocity-limits. Omit cardId to set platform defaults before issuance, or supply the returned card id to set card-specific limits after issuance. Limits use the smallest unit of the card's currency, including USD cents for USDB-funded USD cards.

If the funding source is an Embedded Wallet internal account, the cardholder must authorize Grid to sign Spark token transactions for that card funding source by completing the delegated-key creation flow with POST /auth/delegated-keys. Until an active delegated key exists for that funding source, Authorization Decisioning cannot use it to fund card transactions.

A platform may be limited to a maximum number of live cards. Once that limit is reached, further issuance is rejected with CARD_LIMIT_REACHED until a card is closed or Lightspark raises the limit. Cards in CLOSED status do not count toward the limit.

New cards start in status: "PROCESSING" while the card issuer provisions the card. The card.status_change webhook fires on each status transition, including the transition to ACTIVE (or to CLOSED with statusReason: "ISSUER_REJECTED" if provisioning fails). A provisioned card funded by a USDB Embedded Wallet remains PENDING_AUTH with statusReason: "DELEGATION_REQUIRED" until all signed retries of POST /auth/delegated-keys are complete. Replacing USD funding with USDB without an active key, or revoking the required key, also moves an active card to PENDING_AUTH. Completing delegation or switching back to USD restores ACTIVE; frozen and closed cards keep their status.

post/cards

Request

  • Base URL
    https://api.lightspark.com/grid/2025-10-13
  • URL
    https://api.lightspark.com/grid/2025-10-13/cards
  • Auth
    HTTP basic

Headers

Idempotency-Keystring required
Example:550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

A unique identifier for the request, up to 255 characters. A retry carrying the same key returns the card created by the first request; reusing a key for a materially different card request is rejected with 409.

Request body

customerIdstring 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.

platformCardIdstring

Platform-specific card identifier. Always generated by the server; any value supplied in the request is ignored.

threeDSecurePasswordstring

Static password used as the card's 3-D Secure factor. Required when the first funding-source internal account's cardCapabilities.supports3dSecurePassword is true; omitting it or supplying an empty or whitespace-only string is rejected with INVALID_INPUT. When the capability is false, supplying this field is rejected with INVALID_INPUT because cards in that program have no static-password factor. Grid does not retain the value: it is forwarded to the issuer and discarded, so it cannot be read back afterwards; a cardholder who forgets it must set a new one through PATCH /cards/{id}.

form'VIRTUAL' required

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

fundingSourcestring required

Internal account id that funds this card. The account must belong to the customer and be denominated in a card-eligible currency; otherwise the request is rejected with INVALID_INPUT.

maxNetworkRiskScoreinteger

Maximum normalized network risk score allowed for real-time card authorizations. Scores range from 0 (lowest risk) to 999 (highest risk). Visa scores are normalized by multiplying the raw 0–99 score by 10. Scores equal to the ceiling are allowed. Authorizations without a score are also allowed. The lowest configured card or platform ceiling applies. Omit to set no card-specific ceiling.

allowedMccsstring[]

Merchant category codes the card may spend at. Applies only to a card issued with agentId, and is ignored otherwise. Omit to allow every category not blocked.

blockedMccsstring[]

Merchant category codes the card declines. Applies only to a card issued with agentId, and is ignored otherwise.

agentIdstring

Issue the card for this agent, which must belong to the same customer. The agent can then read the card, tighten its merchant categories, and freeze it through /agents/me/cards. Grid's default agent merchant-category blocks apply in addition to blockedMccs until the platform lifts them with PATCH /cards/{id} and defaultMccBlocksLifted: true. The card's spend counts against the agent's policy as its sends do: each authorization must fit the per-transaction, daily and monthly limits and the daily transaction count, and is declined while the agent is paused.

Example request

{
  "customerId": "Customer:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000001",
  "platformCardId": "card-emp-001",
  "threeDSecurePassword": "AbCd1234EfGh5678",
  "fundingSource": "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000002",
  "maxNetworkRiskScore": 700,
  "allowedMccs": [
    "5411"
  ],
  "blockedMccs": [
    "7995"
  ],
  "agentId": "Agent:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000042"
}

Response

Card created successfully. Newly-created cards start in PROCESSING while the issuer provisions them. Cards funded by an Embedded Wallet internal account also require an active delegated key for that funding source before Authorization Decisioning can use it.

idstring required

System-generated unique card identifier

customerIdstring required

The id of the Customer who holds this card.

platformCardIdstring

Platform-specific card identifier generated by the server.

status'PENDING_KYC' | 'PROCESSING' | 'PENDING_AUTH' | 'ACTIVE' | 'FROZEN' | 'CLOSED' required

Lifecycle status of a card.

StatusDescription
PENDING_KYCThe cardholder has not yet completed KYC. Cards in this status cannot transact.
PROCESSINGThe card has been requested and is being provisioned with the issuer.
PENDING_AUTHThe issuer has provisioned the card, but its USDB Embedded Wallet funding source lacks an active delegated signing key. Complete POST /auth/delegated-keys before using the card.
ACTIVEThe card is live and can authorize transactions.
FROZENThe card is temporarily disabled by the platform or by Grid. New authorizations are declined with cardDeclinedReason: CARD_NOT_ACTIVE. Existing settlements and refunds continue to reconcile. A card Grid froze for review, or one frozen as COMPROMISED, cannot be unfrozen by the platform.
CLOSEDThe card is permanently closed. Terminal, irreversible status.
statusReason'DELEGATION_REQUIRED' | 'ISSUER_REJECTED' | 'CLOSED_BY_PLATFORM' | 'CLOSED_BY_GRID'

Reason a card reached a terminal or non-active status. Present on PENDING_AUTH and CLOSED cards, and on cards that fail provisioning before reaching ACTIVE.

ReasonDescription
DELEGATION_REQUIREDThe card funding source has no usable delegated signing key. Present while the card is PENDING_AUTH.
ISSUER_REJECTEDThe card issuer rejected provisioning during PROCESSING.
CLOSED_BY_PLATFORMThe card was closed via PATCH /cards/{id} (status: CLOSED) by the platform.
CLOSED_BY_GRIDThe card was closed by Grid (e.g. compliance or risk action).
brand'VISA' | 'MASTERCARD'

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

form'VIRTUAL' required

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

pinStatus'NOT_SET' | 'OK' | 'BLOCKED'

State of the card's PIN. On the Card resource, this is the last known status and is present whenever PIN management is supported. An absent value means PIN management is unavailable for this card; it does not mean NOT_SET. Use GET /cards/{id} to retrieve pinStatus.

StatusDescription
NOT_SETNo PIN has been set on the card. PIN verification is not enabled. Set one with POST /cards/{id}/set-pin or the hosted form returned by GET /cards/{id}/pin-entry-url.
OKA PIN is set and usable.
BLOCKEDThe PIN was entered incorrectly three consecutive times and is refused until cleared with POST /cards/{id}/pin/unblock, or replaced with POST /cards/{id}/set-pin.
pinUnblockAvailableAtstring date-time

Earliest time another PIN unblock attempt is allowed. Absent until the unblock allowance is used. Changing the PIN does not reset this time.

last4string

Last four digits of the card PAN.

expMonthinteger

Card expiration month (1–12).

expYearinteger

Card expiration year (four digits).

fundingSourcestring required

Internal account id that funds this card.

maxNetworkRiskScoreinteger nullable

Maximum normalized network risk score allowed for real-time card authorizations. Scores range from 0 (lowest risk) to 999 (highest risk). Visa scores are normalized by multiplying the raw 0–99 score by 10. Scores equal to the ceiling are allowed. Authorizations without a score are also allowed. The lowest configured card or platform ceiling applies. Null means no card-specific ceiling. Platform controls still apply.

allowedMccsstring[]

Merchant category codes the card may spend at. Present only on a card issued for an agent; absent when that card may spend at any category not blocked.

blockedMccsstring[]

Merchant category codes a card issued for an agent declines, with cardDeclinedReason: BLOCKED. Present only on such a card, which also declines Grid's default agent categories unless defaultMccBlocksLifted is true.

agentIdstring

The agent the card was issued for, when there is one.

defaultMccBlocksLiftedboolean

Whether the platform lifted Grid's default agent merchant-category blocks on this card. Present only for a card issued for an agent.

currencystring

Currency the card transacts in, fixed at issuance by its card program. USDB-funded cards transact in USD, with funding converted at 1 USDB = 1 USD. Spending limits use the smallest unit of the card's currency (USD cents for USDB-funded cards). Changing the funding source does not change the card's currency or spending-limit units.

processorRefstring

Opaque processor-side reference for the card (e.g. the Lithic card token). Useful for cross-referencing in the processor's dashboards; not used for any Grid request routing.

issuerRefstring

Opaque identifier for the card on the issuer of record (e.g. the Lead Bank account/card identifier). Useful for cross-referencing in issuer dashboards; not used for any Grid request routing.

createdAtstring date-time required

Creation timestamp

updatedAtstring date-time required

Last update timestamp

Example response

{
  "id": "Card:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000010",
  "customerId": "Customer:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000001",
  "platformCardId": "card-emp-001",
  "pinStatus": "OK",
  "pinUnblockAvailableAt": "2026-10-15T15:00:00Z",
  "last4": "4242",
  "expMonth": 12,
  "expYear": 2029,
  "fundingSource": "InternalAccount:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000002",
  "cardCapabilities": {
    "supportsVelocityLimits": true,
    "supportsPanReveal": true,
    "supportsDigitalWalletTokenization": true
  },
  "maxNetworkRiskScore": 700,
  "allowedMccs": [
    "5411"
  ],
  "blockedMccs": [
    "7995"
  ],
  "agentId": "Agent:019542f5-b3e7-1d02-0000-000000000042",
  "currency": "USD",
  "processorRef": "card_b81c2a4f",
  "issuerRef": "lead_card_7a1b9c3d",
  "createdAt": "2026-05-08T14:10:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-08T14:11:00Z"
}

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