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Before you can issue a card, you must onboard the cardholder by submitting a compliance application and getting it approved. This page gives you the overall flow and links to the detailed compliance guides for each step.
Consumer and Corporate programs only:Onboarding through applications applies to Consumer and Corporate Programs. It is not relevant to the Authorized User Program.

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How onboarding works

How you onboard a cardholder depends on your program type: Both program types require supporting compliance documents, which you upload once per document. For the full submission workflow and the list of accepted documents, see Signing up a customer and KYC/KYB documents.

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The application state machine

After you submit an application, it moves through a series of states until it reaches a terminal decision. You can group the states by what they ask of you:
  • In progress: notStarted, pending, and manualReview. No action is needed. Wait for the next status.
  • Action required: needsVerification and needsInformation. The cardholder must complete verification or resubmit information.
  • Terminal: approved, denied, locked, canceled, and exempt. No further transitions occur.
For what each state means, what triggers it, and what to do next, see Application states.

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Confirm approval

Wait for the application status to reach approved before you issue a card. You can confirm approval in one of two ways: When an application is approved, Rain creates the cardholder automatically, so you can move straight to issuing a card.

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Handle rejections and information requests

When an application needs attention, Rain returns a link you can use to redirect the cardholder to Rain’s hosted verification flow:
  • needsVerification (Consumer programs only): the applicant has not yet submitted identity documents. Redirect them to the verification flow.
  • needsInformation: documents were rejected with a retryable reason, such as a blurry photo or an expired document. The cardholder can resubmit through the hosted flow or you can resubmit through the update endpoints.
  • denied: the application is permanently denied and cannot be resubmitted.
  • locked: set by Rain’s compliance team. Contact platform@rain.xyz if you need details.
For the exact redirect fields and resubmission endpoints, see Application states.

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What’s next

Issue a card

Create a virtual or physical card for the approved cardholder.

Application states

See every application status and the transitions to expect.

KYC/KYB documents

Review the supporting documents each program type requires.