> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.usenumero.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create Cardholder

> Create a reusable cardholder (end-customer) you can issue cards to.

Create a cardholder once, then issue one or more cards to them. Best when you manage many end-customers — each cardholder has their own profile, cards and statement. This is the customer-first (BaaS) flow.

> Card endpoints use the same base URL and API key as the rest of the API, and are signature-gated:
> send `X-Numero-Signature` and `X-Numero-Signature-Version: v2` as well. See [Request signing](/03-request-signing).

## Endpoint

```
POST /api/v1/business/cardholders
```

**Signature required:** Yes

## Headers

| Header                       | Required | Description                                                                                                                                                                    |
| ---------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `X-Numero-Api-Key`           | Yes      | Your API key                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `X-Numero-Signature`         | Yes      | Base64 HMAC-SHA256 over the exact raw request body (POST) or the canonicalised query string (GET), keyed with your **Public Key**. See [Request signing](/03-request-signing). |
| `X-Numero-Signature-Version` | Yes      | Always `v2`.                                                                                                                                                                   |

## Request body

| Field         | Type   | Required | Description                 |
| ------------- | ------ | -------- | --------------------------- |
| `firstName`   | string | Yes      | Cardholder first name       |
| `lastName`    | string | Yes      | Cardholder last name        |
| `email`       | string | No       | Email                       |
| `phone`       | string | No       | Phone                       |
| `dateOfBirth` | string | No       | `YYYY-MM-DD`                |
| `address1`    | string | No       | Street address              |
| `city`        | string | No       | City                        |
| `state`       | string | No       | State                       |
| `zipcode`     | string | No       | Postal code                 |
| `country`     | string | No       | ISO country code, e.g. `NG` |
| `idType`      | string | No       | e.g. `BVN`, `PASSPORT`      |
| `idNumber`    | string | No       | ID number                   |
| `bvn`         | string | No       | Bank Verification Number    |

## Request example

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST "https://api.usenumero.com/numeroaccount/api/v1/business/cardholders" \
  -H "X-Numero-Api-Key: your_api_key" \
  -H "X-Numero-Signature: $SIGNATURE" \
  -H "X-Numero-Signature-Version: v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "firstName": "Ada",
    "lastName": "Obi",
    "email": "ada@example.com",
    "country": "NG",
    "bvn": "22222222222"
  }'
```

## Response

```json theme={null}
{
  "data": {
    "customerId": "NCUS9953596C2B7F45",
    "firstName": "Ada",
    "lastName": "Obi",
    "email": "ada@example.com",
    "phone": "08012345678",
    "country": "NG",
    "status": "Active",
    "activeCardCount": 1,
    "createdAt": "2026-06-16T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "error": null,
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_365123ebc73323f1482508560ce6400e",
    "pagination": null
  }
}
```