Getting Started

The Lithic developer API provides a predictable and programmatic interface to create and configure virtual and physical cards. Get real-time payment data, programmatically issue cards, configure card permissions, and set spend limits all through one API.

First, you will need a Lithic account. Get started by signing up.

Sandbox

We offer a sandbox developer API environment at sandbox.lithic.com that enables testing the functionality of api.lithic.com, including the ability to create test payment cards and simulate test transactions. The sandbox requires a separate API key that is available in the Program Settings page from the moment you sign up for Lithic. Once you have your Sandbox API key, you can immediately start testing our API, either from our API Reference or from your development environment.

We aim for high parity between the sandbox and live environment. However, there may be differences in performance and latency. Sandbox is not intended as a load testing platform.

Sandbox data is also available through the Lithic Dashboard. This makes it easier for all types of customers to interact with the Lithic platform in Sandbox without needing to make calls to the API directly. Sign up for a Lithic account to start using the sandbox.

Compliance

In order to comply with US laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Money Laundering Control Act, U.S. Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control Regulations (OFAC) FinCEN Rules and Regulations (Code of Federal Regulations Title 31, Chapter X) and various provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the identity of all end users must successfully pass the Lithic Customer Identification Program (CIP) before they can transact. Lithic will be unavailable to persons whose identity cannot be reasonably verified. Access will not be granted until verification is successfully completed.

The account holder creation endpoint runs the candidate enrollment through the Lithic CIP and returns a pass or failure. A "pass" indicates that the identity was successfully verified and the end-user can transact. Failures can be one of two types:

The identity could not be verified; or
The identity was verified but ineligible to enroll

Failures of type 1 are able to be retried and may be successful if corrected data is re-submitted (ie. fixed typographical error).

Failures of type 2 should not be retried and the candidate enrollment should be abandoned.

Using the account holder creation endpoint and receiving successful responses is an important part of ensuring your card program is compliant with relevant government and banking regulations. Please note that attempts to bypass the CIP controls or attempting to allow end-users to affect transactions before receiving a successful CIP response is a violation of the Lithic terms of service and may result in service suspension.