Create commercial cards

To pay for business-related expenses, issue a personalized or non-personalized commercial card.

Create a commercial card

To create a commercial card, submit a Create a cardAPI request by providing the following fields:

• program.purpose: Set this to COMMERCIAL to indicate that you want the card issued to a business.

• program.type: The program type, which is a Bank Identification Number (BIN) attribute registered with the card scheme. If you do not provide a value, the default configured in your account settings applies. Possible values: PREPAID, DEBIT, CREDIT, and DEFERRED_DEBIT.

• program.sub_type: Optional. A further BIN designation. Possible values: GOOD_FUNDS_CREDIT and B2B_TRAVEL. If you do not provide a value, the default configured in your account settings applies.

• program.interchange_percent: Optional. The interchange rate to lock on the card at creation, as a percentage of the transaction amount. Interchange is the fee that the merchant's acquirer pays to the card issuer on each purchase. This field applies only to the B2B Travel program (program.sub_type B2B_TRAVEL). It has no effect on other programs.

  • Possible values: 0.8 to 1.9, in increments of 0.1. If you omit this field, Airwallex issues the card from a BIN with standard interchange.
  • The rate applies only to transactions at travel merchants. For other merchants, standard interchange applies.
  • You can set this field only when you create the card. Airwallex issues the card from a BIN configured with the selected interchange. The value is tied to the card number, so you cannot change it later. For a different interchange, create a new card.
  • Variable interchange is available only in some regions of the B2B Travel program.

• created_by: Your full legal name.

• request_id: Specify a unique request ID.

• purpose: How the commercial card is used. If you do not provide a value, the default is BUSINESS_EXPENSES. Other possible values: CLIENT_EXPENSES, MARKETING_EXPENSES, OFFICE_SUPPLIES, ONLINE_PURCHASING, OTHER, SUBSCRIPTIONS, TEAM_EXPENSES, TRAVEL_EXPENSES.

• authorization_controls.allowed_transaction_count: Specify whether the card is a single (SINGLE) or multi-use (MULTIPLE) card. Single-use cards can only be used for one successful debit transaction.

• authorization_controls.allowed_transaction_limits: Set transaction limits, such as amount and interval.

Program combinations

The following explorer shows how region, program.type, program.sub_type, and funding source work together for commercial cards (program.purpose COMMERCIAL). Wallet-funded combinations debit your Airwallex Wallet and do not require a funding_source_id. Credit-line combinations, including B2B Travel on a credit line, require an approved credit line and a funding_source_id. For the full matrix, see Program combinations.

Required fields differ depending on whether you personalize the commercial card.

Set non-personalized commercial card fields

• is_personalized: Set this field to false if you want to create a non-personalized card. This allows the card to be assigned to a business with the business name used on the card. The card can be associated with multiple authorized cardholders.
• form_factor: Set this to VIRTUAL. This is the only supported form for non-personalized cards.
• cardholder_id: Provide the ID of either a DELEGATE or INDIVIDUAL type cardholder as returned in the Create a CardholderAPI response.
• additional_cardholder_ids: Optional. The IDs of additional cardholders (up to a maximum of two) of either DELEGATE or INDIVIDUAL type that you want to associate this commercial card with. All cardholders, including the primary cardholder in cardholder_id, receive 3D Secure (3DS) verification codes on the contact (email or mobile_number) listed on their cardholder record.

Example request (Non-personalized commercial card)

1curl -X POST https://api.sandbox.airwallex.com/api/v1/issuing/cards/create \
2  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {{ACCESS_TOKEN}}' \
3  -d '{
4    "program": {
5      "purpose": "COMMERCIAL",
6      "sub_type": "GOOD_FUNDS_CREDIT",
7      "type": "CREDIT"
8    },
9    "is_personalized": false,
10    "cardholder_id": "52646a67-878f-46d6-b4b1-02601cd4c553",
11    "additional_cardholder_ids": [
12      "4d694e2f-5294-41e5-b322-2e9b20238941"
13    ],
14    "form_factor": "VIRTUAL",
15    "authorization_controls": {
16      "allowed_merchant_categories": [],
17      "allowed_transaction_count": "MULTIPLE",
18      "transaction_limits": {
19        "currency": "USD",
20        "limits": [
21          {
22            "amount": 100,
23            "interval": "ALL_TIME"
24          }
25        ]
26      }
27    },
28    "created_by": "John Smith",
29    "request_id": "d1064ar2-8ff0-4f9a-a5be-6d34dea8dc68"
30  }'

Example response (Non-personalized commercial card)

1{
2   "additional_cardholder_ids": [
3       "4d694e2f-5294-41e5-b322-2e9b20238941"
4   ],
5   "authorization_controls": {
6       "allowed_currencies": [],
7       "allowed_merchant_categories": [],
8       "allowed_transaction_count": "MULTIPLE",
9       "transaction_limits": {
10           "currency": "USD",
11           "limits": [
12               {
13                   "amount": 100.0,
14                   "interval": "ALL_TIME"
15               },
16               {
17                   "amount": 10000.0,
18                   "interval": "PER_TRANSACTION"
19               }
20           ]
21       }
22   },
23   "brand": "VISA",
24   "card_id": "c5caf0ab-287c-4f74-8cde-84d52352bda3",
25   "card_status": "PENDING",
26   "cardholder_id": "52646a67-878f-46d6-b4b1-02601cd4c553",
27   "created_at": "2024-03-07T02:51:53.388+0000",
28   "created_by": "John Smith",
29   "form_factor": "VIRTUAL",
30   "is_personalized": false,
31   "name_on_card": "name on card",
32   "program": {
33       "purpose": "COMMERCIAL",
34       "sub_type": "GOOD_FUNDS_CREDIT",
35       "type": "CREDIT"
36   },
37   "purpose": "BUSINESS_EXPENSES",
38   "request_id": "d1064ar2-8ff0-4f9a-a5be-6d34dea8dc68",
39   "updated_at": "2024-03-07T02:51:53.388+0000"
40}

Set personalized commercial card fields

• is_personalized: Set this field to true if you want to create a personalized card. This allows the card to be assigned to a single named individual with their legal name used on the card.
• form_factor: You can set this to VIRTUAL or PHYSICAL. Personalized cards can be added to digital wallets. The B2B Travel program supports virtual cards only.
• cardholder_id: Provide the ID of an INDIVIDUAL type cardholder as returned in the Create a CardholderAPI response.

Example request (Personalized commercial card)

1curl -X POST https://api.sandbox.airwallex.com/api/v1/issuing/cards/create \
2  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {{ACCESS_TOKEN}}' \
3  -d '{
4    "program": {
5      "purpose": "COMMERCIAL",
6      "sub_type": "GOOD_FUNDS_CREDIT",
7      "type": "CREDIT"
8    },
9    "is_personalized": true,
10    "cardholder_id": "031f3f33-e1ca-463c-bd72-8454b9ae1063",
11    "form_factor": "VIRTUAL",
12    "authorization_controls": {
13      "allowed_merchant_categories": [],
14      "allowed_transaction_count": "MULTIPLE",
15      "transaction_limits": {
16        "currency": "USD",
17        "limits": [
18          {
19            "amount": 100,
20            "interval": "ALL_TIME"
21          }
22        ]
23      }
24    },
25    "created_by": "John Smith",
26    "request_id": "d1064ar2-8ff0-4f9a-a5be-6d34dea8dc62"
27  }'

Example response (Personalized commercial card)

1{
2   "authorization_controls": {
3       "allowed_currencies": [],
4       "allowed_merchant_categories": [],
5       "allowed_transaction_count": "MULTIPLE",
6       "transaction_limits": {
7           "currency": "USD",
8           "limits": [
9               {
10                   "amount": 100.0,
11                   "interval": "ALL_TIME"
12               },
13               {
14                   "amount": 10000.0,
15                   "interval": "PER_TRANSACTION"
16               }
17           ]
18       }
19   },
20   "brand": "VISA",
21   "card_id": "62cfe93c-9a85-451a-9e1d-a59d4ccf9ab7",
22   "card_status": "PENDING",
23   "cardholder_id": "031f3f33-e1ca-463c-bd72-8454b9ae1063",
24   "created_at": "2024-02-27T03:53:25.436+0000",
25   "created_by": "John Smith",
26   "form_factor": "VIRTUAL",
27   "is_personalized": true,
28   "name_on_card": "Test Name",
29   "program": {
30       "purpose": "COMMERCIAL",
31       "sub_type": "GOOD_FUNDS_CREDIT",
32       "type": "CREDIT"
33   },
34   "request_id": "d1064ar2-8ff0-4f9a-a5be-6d34dea8dc62",
35   "updated_at": "2024-02-27T03:53:25.436+0000"
36}

Review the card API response

The response returns the card object with all the request fields, and the following card details:

• card_id: A unique identifier of the card object. You can use this to:
  • Retrieve the full Primary Account Number (PAN) and CVV using Get sensitive card detailsAPI. For the integration options, see Retrieve sensitive card details.
  • Check remaining spend using Get card remaining limitsAPI.
  • Retrieve the card object, including status, using Get card detailsAPI. To list all cards issued to your account, see Get all cardsAPI.
  • Update transaction limits, allowed currencies, and allowed merchant categories using Update a cardAPI.
• card_number: A masked card number.
• card_status: The status of the card. See Card statuses. Virtual cards automatically transition from PENDING to ACTIVE, so you can transact immediately.

Next steps

After you create a commercial card:

• Set up authorization controls
• Retrieve sensitive card details
• Retrieve transactions