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Credit card onboarding is the process through which your customers apply for and receive their credit cards. This involves comprehensive checks and assessments to ensure responsible lending while maintaining a smooth user experience.

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What is Card Onboarding?

Card onboarding encompasses the entire journey from application to card activation:
  1. Application Submission - Customer provides personal and financial information (plus company details for businesses)
  2. Verification & Assessment - Automated checks, credit evaluation, and business verification
  3. Document Upload - Additional documentation if required
  4. Agreement Signing - Digital signing of terms and conditions
  5. Card Issuance - Physical or virtual card creation
  6. Activation - Card ready for use

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API Overview

Our unified API supports both consumer and business onboarding through a single endpoint with different onboardingType values:

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V4 API Endpoint

POST /api/v4/engagements/card/onboarding

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Request Structure

The API uses a discriminator field onboardingType to handle different customer types:
For consumer customers, set onboardingType to "CONSUMER" and provide:
  • Complete applicant information (personal details, address, employment)
  • Card type selection
  • Redirect URLs for success/failure handling

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The Onboarding Journey

Both consumer and business applications follow the same state flow:

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Key Processes

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Application Processing

The system performs comprehensive validation and assessment:
Standard Checks:
  • Application validation (completeness, format)
  • Internal checks (invoice history, block lists)
  • Know Your Customer (KYC) verification
  • Credit assessment (Schufa integration)
  • Income verification and risk scoring

Fraud Detection

Real-time analysis of application patterns and behavioral signals to prevent identity theft. Enhanced for businesses with business pattern analysis.

AML/KYB Compliance

Anti-Money Laundering checks for all applicants. Additional Know Your Business verification including adverse media screening for businesses.

Regulatory Compliance

Adherence to PSD2, GDPR, and local financial regulations. Additional business-specific requirements for business applicants.

Credit Policy

Consistent application of lending criteria. Dual assessment of personal and business creditworthiness for business applicants.
Credit assessments are binding for 30 days. Customers who are rejected due to credit scoring can reapply after 3 months.

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Document Upload

When additional documentation is required (such as tax registration for certain business types), the application enters the AWAITING_DOCUMENTS state. Upload Endpoint: 
POST /api/engagements/card/onboarding/{onboarding-id}/documents
Requirements:
  • Content types: application/pdf, image/*
  • Maximum file size: 10 MB
  • Document types: TAX_REGISTRATION (extensible)
After documents are uploaded, the status transitions to AWAITING_DOCUMENT_REVIEW while documents are verified by our team.

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Identity Verification

Once assessment is approved (or documents are reviewed and accepted), customers complete identity verification:
  • Document Verification: Validation of government-issued IDs
  • Liveness Check: Ensuring the person is physically present
  • Data Matching: Verifying information matches official records
  • Signatory Authorization (businesses): Confirming authorization to sign on behalf of the business
Identity verification typically completes within minutes. Business applicants may take slightly longer due to additional business authorization checks.

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Document Signing

Customers must digitally sign required documents:
  • Credit Agreement: Terms and conditions for the credit facility
  • Privacy Policy: Data processing agreements
The signing process uses Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) which provide:
  • Legal Equivalence: Same legal status as handwritten signatures under eIDAS regulation
  • Non-repudiation: Cryptographically ensures the signer cannot deny having signed
  • Multi-lingual: Available in German and English
  • Mobile-Optimized: Works seamlessly on all devices
  • Regulatory Compliance: Meets EU standards for financial services

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Onboarding States

The onboarding process progresses through defined states:
  • PROCESSING: Initial validation, KYC/KYB verification, credit assessment
  • AWAITING_DOCUMENTS: Additional documents required from applicant
  • AWAITING_DOCUMENT_REVIEW: Documents submitted, awaiting review
  • AWAITING_SIGNING: Application approved, waiting for digital signature
  • AWAITING_CARD_CREATION: Documents signed, waiting for card creation
  • COMPLETED: Onboarding successfully finished with credit engagement established
  • REJECTED: Application rejected with specific reasons:
    • KYC_DENIAL: Failed KYC verification (PEP, sanctions)
    • KYB_DENIAL: Failed business verification
    • CREDIT_SCORING_DENIAL: Failed personal or business credit scoring
    • UNAUTHORIZED_SIGNATORY: Individual not authorized to sign for business (businesses only)
    • INVALID_DOCUMENTS: Submitted documents invalid or insufficient
  • FAILED: Unexpected error occurred:
    • INTERNAL_ERROR: System error requiring investigation
    • ADDRESS_MISMATCH: Address doesn’t match official records
    • NAME_MISMATCH: Name doesn’t match official records
    • ID_VERIFICATION_FAILED: Identity verification failed
    • TIMEOUT: Process timeout

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Response Structure

All responses include the onboardingType discriminator to identify the customer type. The response structure varies based on the onboarding type:
  • Consumer responses: Include applicant information only
  • Business responses: Include both applicant and company information
Additional information fields are provided based on the current onboarding state (signing URL, credit assessment details, rejection reasons, etc.).

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Getting Started

To begin offering credit cards to your customers:
  1. Integration Guide - Technical integration steps for the unified API
  2. Webhooks Guide - Real-time event notifications
  3. API Reference - Complete endpoint documentation
Ready to implement? Continue to our Integration Flow guide for technical implementation details.