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

# Overview

A cardholder is the resource that is associated with a card.

<Note>When you are creating a new card, it is not mandatory to associate the card with a cardholder. You can add the cardholder later — you can update the card details via the [Partially Update Card Endpoint](https://nextgen-docs.enfuce.com/api/cards/patch-card/partial-update-card), where you associate a cardholder with one or more cards.</Note>

## Cardholder Information

When you are creating a cardholder record via the [Create Cardholder Endpoint](https://nextgen-docs.enfuce.com/api/cardholders/create-cardholder), you can add the following information:

* **Customer Number** (`customerNumber`) <Badge color="red">required</Badge>: Unique identifier that you want to assign to each cardholder. You assign this identifier in your system and when you create the cardholder record for Enfuce, you enter this identifier in the endpoint request.
* **Language and Country Code** (`locale`) <Badge color="red">required</Badge>: The language and The geographic location of the cardholder.
* **Address** (`address`) <Badge color="red">required</Badge>: Primary address of the cardholder.

<Note>This list is not exhaustive — you can provide additional parameters to include more cardholder data.</Note>

## Cardholder Association with Multiple Cards

We recommend that for a single tenant, you create a single record for a cardholder.

<Info>Enfuce does not restrict the creation of multiple cardholder records, each with a unique `customerNumber`. However, instead of creating multiple records for the same resource, we recommend that you create a single record and associate the cardholder with multiple cards.</Info>

## Digital Wallets | Cardholder Association

As an issuer, if you want to provide the addition of your cards to digital wallets, each card must have a unique cardholder associated with it. This is especially required for supporting SMS One-Time Password (OTP) authentication, which requires a valid phone number of a unique cardholder associated with each card.

<Info>Digital wallet providers, such as Apple Pay/Google Pay/Samsung Pay use SMS OTP as the fallback enrolment method. Hence, a valid phone number of the cardholder is <strong>essential</strong> to receive the SMS OTP.</Info>

## Cardholder Verification and Onboarding

Before creating cardholders and assigning cards in our platform, you must complete KYC, PEP and sanctions screening, and any additional due diligence, such as creditworthiness assessments and risk scoring. Once onboarding is complete, you can create cardholder records using the [Create Cardholder API Endpoint](https://nextgen-docs.enfuce.com/api/cardholders/create-cardholder).

## Address Configuration | Card and Cardholder Address

You can create two addresses, one for the card, and the other for the cardholder. However, when you are creating a cardholder, the cardholder's address (`address` object) is a mandatory parameter.

<Note><ul><li>When you are creating a new card, specifying an address for the card (`preferredCardAddress`) is optional.</li><li>If no address is specified for the card, the cardholder's address is used as the default option.</li><li>However, if you have specified an address for the card, this is used for delivering the physical card. The `preferredCardAddress` overrides the cardholder's address and is included in the embossing file, sent to the card manufacturer.</li><li>If you have created a card without associating it with a cardholder, the `preferredCardAddress` becomes a <Badge color="red">required</Badge> parameter.</li><li>If you update an address (card/cardholder address), it does not automatically update the other one.</li></ul></Note>