Card Lifecycle

A card moves through a defined set of states from issuance request to termination. This page covers those states, how fulfillment is tracked alongside them, and a worked example of a card’s whole life.

• Requesting card issuance — you present an issuance request for a verified customer, an account belonging to them, and a card product. The request goes to Synctera’s card vendor, who issues the card.
• Presenting the card to the customer — a physical card is delivered by mail; a virtual card’s details are presented digitally through a secure channel.
• Activating the card — automatic for a virtual card. A physical card requires the customer to prove they received it.
• Monitoring the card — you are alerted to irregularities in card use.
• Managing the card — you respond to customer activity, requests, and security alerts, changing card data and status when appropriate.
• Reissuing the card — a new card replaces one that expired, was damaged, lost, or stolen, or that needs to change appearance or program.
• Suspending the card — temporarily blocking use, for suspected but unconfirmed fraud, or when a customer thinks they have misplaced their card.
• Terminating the card — permanently disabling the card, with no replacement.

Card Status

The status.card_status field tracks where a card is in that life:

Status	Meaning
PENDING	The card has been requested but not yet issued. Check status.pending_reasons to see what it is waiting for.
UNACTIVATED	The card has been issued but not activated, and cannot be used.
ACTIVE	The card is available for full use.
SUSPENDED	The card is temporarily blocked and cannot be used until returned to active.
TERMINATED	The card may no longer be used. This is final.
REJECTED	The issuance request was rejected.

A card sits in PENDING when something must happen before it can be manufactured. The pending_reasons object says which:

• is_waiting_for_pin — the card product’s pin_issuance_policy is REQUIRED and no PIN has been set yet.
• is_waiting_for_image — the card uses a custom image that has not yet been uploaded and approved.
• is_waiting_for_bulk_shipment — the card ships as part of a bulk order that has not been released.

You can set only ACTIVE, SUSPENDED, and TERMINATED through Update Card. The other statuses are set by the Synctera platform as the card moves through issuance.

Fulfillment Status

The card_fulfillment_status tracks digital presentation for virtual cards, and manufacturing and delivery for physical cards, separately from card status:

Fulfillment status	Meaning
DIGITALLY_PRESENTED	A virtual card has been issued. This issuance is instant and the card is automatically activated and ready for use.
ISSUED	A physical card has been issued, but the order has not yet been sent to the fulfillment provider.
ORDERED	The physical card order request has been sent to the fulfillment provider, who has successfully processed the order.
SHIPPED	The physical card has been shipped to the cardholder. Tracking is available for all shipping methods except LOCAL_MAIL.
REJECTED	The physical card order failed.
REISSUED	A physical card has been reissued. The card will go through the same fulfillment flow as new card issuance.

Fulfillment status is distinct from card status. A card can be SHIPPED while its card status is still UNACTIVATED — delivery and usability are tracked separately.