Cards Overview
This guide provides an overview of the various payment cards available on the Solaris platform as well as common card statuses and workflows.
Card types
Solaris, acting as the card issuer allows partners to issue and manage different types of payment cards. The card type denotes the functionality that is offered to the cardholder, and certain card types such as Debit and Prepaid cards can be offered in both physical and digital form. The types of cards that can be issued depend on your card program configuration.
- Debit cards . Allows the cardholder to spend the funds available in the attached account. This type of card does not provide an overdraft facility, as such a cardholder cannot go overdrawn on their account.
- Prepaid cards . Functionally similar to debit cards, but intended for scenarios requiring greater oversight of or restrictions on the permitted authorization Merchant Category Code (MCC), thereby restricting the merchants or type of merchants with which the card can be used.
- Virtual cards . This card type is designed to be used exclusively for online/e-commerce purchases. These cards can be issued for limited use cases and for limited time durations. They are only available "virtually" (i.e. not physically) and do not have a PIN. These can be assigned to either a primary or sub account.
- Digital cards . These are the digital representation of a standard Debit or Prepaid card. They can be fulfilled (issued) independently, or alongside a corresponding physical card, in which case both share the same card PAN (long card number), CVV2 and expiry date. For more information view the Digital cards guide .
Card statuses
A card's status determines how it can be used by the cardholder. Below is a non exhaustive list of common card statuses. Certain statuses (e.g. Lost, Blocked) can be set via the API, others (e.g. PIN tries exceeded) are set by cardholder usage.
| Status | Code | Description | Settable via API |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | 01 | Card is active, all permitted transactions are possible. | Yes |
| PIN tries exceeded | 02 | The maximum allowed failed PIN attempts has been reached or exceeded. The cardholder will not be able to make further transactions through an ATM or POS using a PIN pad. Contactless transactions are still permitted. | No |
| Inactive | 03 | Card is inactive and needs to be activated in order to be used. This is the default status for a new card. | No |
| Expired | 04 | The card has expired and is unusable. | No |
| Lost | 05 | The card has been reported lost and is unusable. | Yes |
| Stolen | 06 | The card has been reported stolen and is unusable. | No |
| Cardholder closed | 07 | Cardholder's account is closed. No transactions can be made using the card. | No |
| Issuer cancelled | 08 | The Issuer has cancelled the card. The card is unusable and the status of the card can no longer be changed. | No |
| Fraudulent use | 09 | Fraudulent use of the card is suspected requiring a manual review by Solaris to help safeguard the account. While in this status no transactions can be made using the card. | No |
| Blocked | 10 | Card is temporarily blocked. While blocked, no transactions can be made using the card. | Yes |
| CVV2 tries exceeded | 34 | This indicates that the maximum allowed failed CVV2 attempts has been reached or exceeded. No transactions can be made until the status is set to Normal. | No |
Common card workflows
Card activation
Depending on the card program and types of card being issued, the workflow to activate a card (set it to a status of Normal) differs slightly:
-
Physical and digital cards are issued as inactive by default.
- Partners activate the card via the Card/ActivateCard method, building out an in-app workflow whereby the customers provides their D.O.B and card CVV2 value.
- Once activated the card is now able to be used for transacting.
- Once the customer has used the card PIN (either via a Chip+Pin POS or ATM) contactless transactions are then enabled.
- Physical cards issued alongside of or after a digital card which has been activated, are issued as active.
- Virtual cards are issued as active by default.
Damaged cards
Cards can be flagged as "Damaged" via the Card/SetCardAsDamaged method. When this method is called:
- A new replacement for the damaged card will be issued automatically.
- The card flagged as damaged will remain with a status of Normal and can continue to be used for all transaction types for up-to 30 days, however the cardholder will not be able to change the card's PIN once it is marked as damaged.
- The cardholder will have 90 days to activate the replacement card. Once the replacement card has been activated it becomes the primary card, and the old (damaged) card marked as Issuer Cancelled.
- Any replacement card fee from the agreement will need to be paid before the replacement card is issued.
Resetting a card status to Normal
The Card/SetCardAsNormal method can be used if a card's status needs to be reset to Normal, where its current status is Blocked, or if PIN or CVV2 tries have been exceeded by the cardholder.
Setting a card status as Blocked
The Card/SetCardAsBlock method is used to set a cards with a status of Normal, to Blocked.
Related webhook notifications
- The Card status change notification provides notification of a change in a card's status.
- The Card action notification provides notification of actions in a card's lifecycle.
- The Card shipment notification contains information regarding shipment tracking of a physical card delivered by post.