Card issuance

Overview

When a customer accepts their credit offer, Imprint issues their initial card(s). This guide covers how initial card issuance works depending on your program’s configuration. A card’s details consist of its PAN (Primary Account Number, i.e. the 16-digit card number), CVV, and expiration date. These details together identify the card for transactions.

Card issuance modes

Imprint supports two card issuance modes for your program:

Mode	Description
Distinct cards	The customer receives a distinct virtual card and physical card, each with their own PAN, CVV, and expiration date.
Unified card	One set of card details is issued when the customer accepts their credit offer. The same PAN, CVV, and expiration date are used for both online and in-store transactions.

Your card issuance mode is configured per program. Contact your Imprint team to confirm or update your program’s configuration.

Card types

Card Type	Description
`VIRTUAL`	A digital-only card issued for online transactions. Always created in `ACTIVE` status. Issued in distinct cards programs at offer acceptance.
`PHYSICAL`	A card tied to a physical form factor mailed to the customer. Created in `INACTIVE` status and requires activation after delivery. Issued in distinct cards programs after customer accepted offer and selected a card design.
`UNIFIED`	A single card that serves both online and in-person use cases. Issued in unified card programs. The customer receives one set of card details regardless of whether they use it online or with the physical card.

The card_type field in PAYMENT_METHOD webhooks indicates the type of card issued.

Distinct cards experience

In the distinct cards model, you receive two payment methods:

Virtual card — Created immediately when the customer accepts the credit offer. Always created in ACTIVE status so that customers can use the card number for online purchases immediately.
Physical card — Created when the customer selects a card design (or when a default design is auto-assigned). Created in INACTIVE status and must be activated by the customer after receiving the physical card.

You will receive two PAYMENT_METHOD webhooks — one for each distinct card. For the full PAYMENT_METHOD webhook payload and field descriptions, see the Payment Method Event Notification reference.

Unified card issuance experience

In the unified card model, customers receive a single payment method with one set of card details. The card is created in ACTIVE status immediately when the customer accepts the credit offer and selects a card design. The customer can use the card number for online purchases right away, even before receiving the physical form of the card in the mail. What you receive:

One PAYMENT_METHOD webhook with card_type: "UNIFIED" and new_status: "ACTIVE"

Customer experience:

Card is immediately usable for online and in-store transactions
Customer receives in the mail a physical form of the card with the same card number.
Customer can see full card numbers in Imprint applications.
No activation step required after receiving the physical card. Customer can start using the physical form of the card for in-person transactions immediately upon receiving the card.

For the full PAYMENT_METHOD webhook payload and field descriptions, see the Payment Method Event Notification reference.

Migration from distinct cards to unified card

If your program migrates from distinct cards to unified card issuance:

New customers who accept their credit offer after the migration will receive a single unified card.
Existing customers who were onboarded before the migration will retain their separate virtual and physical cards. Imprint will not cancel existing virtual cards, as doing so would disrupt active customer spending patterns.
Existing virtual cards will naturally expire at their expiration date. Imprint will not reissue expired virtual cards for programs that have migrated to unified card issuance.
When an existing customer’s physical card expires and is reissued, the replacement will be a unified card that can be used immediately for both online and in-store transactions.

Example: Physical card reissuance after migration

When an existing customer’s physical card is reissued after the program has migrated to unified card issuance, you will receive two webhooks: Webhook 1: The old physical card is canceled.

{
  "object": "PAYMENT_METHOD",
  "data": {
    "payment_method_id": "DCBFC736-2286-42DD-897D-160DCA80AED2",
    "customer_id": "2EE24580-B97B-4949-A65C-929CCB9B9B8D",
    "partner_customer_id": "PARTNER_USER_456",
    "card_type": "PHYSICAL",
    "previous_status": "ACTIVE",
    "new_status": "CANCELED",
    "created_at": "2025-02-13T19:08:07.000Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-07-24T14:30:00.000Z"
  }
}

Webhook 2: A new unified card is created in ACTIVE status.

{
  "object": "PAYMENT_METHOD",
  "data": {
    "payment_method_id": "A1B2C3D4-5678-90EF-GHIJ-KLMNOPQRSTUV",
    "customer_id": "2EE24580-B97B-4949-A65C-929CCB9B9B8D",
    "partner_customer_id": "PARTNER_USER_456",
    "card_design_id": "3b9c1f3e-52a0-44c1-b131-a7ab0099a214",
    "card_type": "UNIFIED",
    "new_status": "ACTIVE",
    "created_at": "2026-07-24T14:30:00.000Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-07-24T14:30:00.000Z"
  }
}

The customer’s existing virtual card remains active and unaffected. It will expire naturally at its expiration date and will not be reissued.

After migration, you should expect to receive PAYMENT_METHOD webhooks with card_type: "UNIFIED" for new customers and for reissued cards. Update your webhook handler to recognize this card type alongside VIRTUAL and PHYSICAL.

Summary

	Distinct cards	Unified card
Cards issued	2 (virtual + physical)	1 (unified)
Webhook count after offer is accepted	2 per customer	1 per customer
`card_type` value	`VIRTUAL` and `PHYSICAL`	`UNIFIED`
Physical card activation	Always required	Configurable by program
Online transactions before physical card arrives	Yes, on virtual card	Yes, on unified card

Getting Started

Applications

Cards

Transactions

Rewards

Account Linking

Webhook Event Notifications

API Keys

Sandbox Testing

SDK Reference

Overview

Card issuance modes

Card types

Distinct cards experience

Unified card issuance experience

Migration from distinct cards to unified card

Example: Physical card reissuance after migration

Summary

​Overview

​Card issuance modes

​Card types

​Distinct cards experience

​Unified card issuance experience

​Migration from distinct cards to unified card

​Example: Physical card reissuance after migration

​Summary

Overview

Card issuance modes

Card types

Distinct cards experience

Unified card issuance experience

Migration from distinct cards to unified card

Example: Physical card reissuance after migration

Summary