---
title: "Create an individual or business account holder"
method: POST
path: "/v1/account_holders"
tags: ["Account Holder"]
---

# Create an individual or business account holder

`POST /v1/account_holders`

Create an account holder and initiate the appropriate onboarding workflow.  Account holders and accounts have a 1:1 relationship. When an account holder is successfully created an associated account is also created.
All calls to this endpoint will return a synchronous response. The response time will depend on the workflow. In some cases, the response may indicate the workflow is under review or further action will be needed to complete the account creation process.
This endpoint can only be used on accounts that are part of the program that the calling API key manages.

## Request body

- union
  - Kyb
    - `beneficial_owner_individuals` KybIndividual[], required — You must submit a list of all direct and indirect individuals with 25% or more ownership in the company. A maximum of 4 beneficial owners can be submitted. If no individual owns 25% of the company you do not need to send beneficial owner information. See [FinCEN requirements](https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/CDD_Rev6.7_Sept_2017_Certificate.pdf) (Section I) for more background on individuals that should be included.
      - `address` Address, required
        - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
        - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
        - `city` string, required — Name of city.
        - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
        - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
        - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
      - `dob` string, required — Individual's date of birth, as an RFC 3339 date.
      - `email` string, required — Individual's email address. If utilizing Lithic for chargeback processing, this customer email address may be used to communicate dispute status and resolution.
      - `first_name` string, required — Individual's first name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `government_id` string, required — Government-issued identification number (required for identity verification and compliance with banking regulations). Social Security Numbers (SSN) and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) are currently supported, entered as full nine-digits, with or without hyphens
      - `last_name` string, required — Individual's last name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `phone_number` string — Individual's phone number, entered in E.164 format.
    - `business_entity` BusinessEntity, required
      - `address` Address, required
        - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
        - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
        - `city` string, required — Name of city.
        - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
        - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
        - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
      - `dba_business_name` string — Any name that the business operates under that is not its legal business name (if applicable).
      - `government_id` string, required — Government-issued identification number. US Federal Employer Identification Numbers (EIN) are currently supported, entered as full nine-digits, with or without hyphens.
      - `legal_business_name` string, required — Legal (formal) business name.
      - `parent_company` string — Parent company name (if applicable).
      - `phone_numbers` string[], required — One or more of the business's phone number(s), entered as a list in E.164 format.
    - `control_person` KybIndividual, required — Individuals associated with a KYB application. Phone number is optional.
      - `address` Address, required
        - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
        - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
        - `city` string, required — Name of city.
        - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
        - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
        - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
      - `dob` string, required — Individual's date of birth, as an RFC 3339 date.
      - `email` string, required — Individual's email address. If utilizing Lithic for chargeback processing, this customer email address may be used to communicate dispute status and resolution.
      - `first_name` string, required — Individual's first name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `government_id` string, required — Government-issued identification number (required for identity verification and compliance with banking regulations). Social Security Numbers (SSN) and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) are currently supported, entered as full nine-digits, with or without hyphens
      - `last_name` string, required — Individual's last name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `phone_number` string — Individual's phone number, entered in E.164 format.
    - `external_id` string — A user provided id that can be used to link an account holder with an external system
    - `kyb_passed_timestamp` string — An RFC 3339 timestamp indicating when precomputed KYB was completed on the business with a pass result. This field is required only if workflow type is `KYB_BYO`.
    - `naics_code` string — 6-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the business.
    - `nature_of_business` string, required — Short description of the company's line of business (i.e., what does the company do?). Values longer than 255 characters will be truncated before KYB verification
    - `tos_timestamp` string, required — An RFC 3339 timestamp indicating when the account holder accepted the applicable legal agreements (e.g., cardholder terms) as agreed upon during API customer's implementation with Lithic.
    - `website_url` string — Company website URL.
    - `workflow` 'KYB_BASIC' | 'KYB_BYO', required — Specifies the type of KYB workflow to run.
  - KybDelegated
    - `beneficial_owner_individuals` KybDelegatedIndividual[] — You can submit a list of all direct and indirect individuals with 25% or more ownership in the company. A maximum of 4 beneficial owners can be submitted. If no individual owns 25% of the company you do not need to send beneficial owner information. See [FinCEN requirements](https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/CDD_Rev6.7_Sept_2017_Certificate.pdf) (Section I) for more background on individuals that should be included.
      - `address` Address
        - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
        - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
        - `city` string, required — Name of city.
        - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
        - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
        - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
      - `dob` string — Individual's date of birth, as an RFC 3339 date.
      - `email` string — Individual's email address. If utilizing Lithic for chargeback processing, this customer email address may be used to communicate dispute status and resolution.
      - `first_name` string, required — Individual's first name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `government_id` string — Government-issued identification number (required for identity verification and compliance with banking regulations). Social Security Numbers (SSN) and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) are currently supported, entered as full nine-digits, with or without hyphens
      - `last_name` string, required — Individual's last name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `phone_number` string — Individual's phone number, entered in E.164 format.
    - `business_entity` KybDelegatedBusinessEntity, required
      - `address` Address, required
        - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
        - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
        - `city` string, required — Name of city.
        - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
        - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
        - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
      - `dba_business_name` string — Any name that the business operates under that is not its legal business name (if applicable).
      - `government_id` string — Government-issued identification number. US Federal Employer Identification Numbers (EIN) are currently supported, entered as full nine-digits, with or without hyphens.
      - `legal_business_name` string, required — Legal (formal) business name.
      - `parent_company` string — Parent company name (if applicable).
      - `phone_numbers` string[] — One or more of the business's phone number(s), entered as a list in E.164 format.
    - `control_person` KybDelegatedIndividual — Individuals associated with a KYB_DELEGATED application. Only first and last name are required.
      - `address` Address
        - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
        - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
        - `city` string, required — Name of city.
        - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
        - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
        - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
      - `dob` string — Individual's date of birth, as an RFC 3339 date.
      - `email` string — Individual's email address. If utilizing Lithic for chargeback processing, this customer email address may be used to communicate dispute status and resolution.
      - `first_name` string, required — Individual's first name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `government_id` string — Government-issued identification number (required for identity verification and compliance with banking regulations). Social Security Numbers (SSN) and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) are currently supported, entered as full nine-digits, with or without hyphens
      - `last_name` string, required — Individual's last name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `phone_number` string — Individual's phone number, entered in E.164 format.
    - `external_id` string — A user provided id that can be used to link an account holder with an external system
    - `naics_code` string — 6-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the business.
    - `nature_of_business` string — Short description of the company's line of business (i.e., what does the company do?). Values longer than 255 characters will be truncated before KYB verification
    - `tos_timestamp` string — An RFC 3339 timestamp indicating when the account holder accepted the applicable legal agreements (e.g., cardholder terms) as agreed upon during API customer's implementation with Lithic.
    - `website_url` string — Company website URL.
    - `workflow` 'KYB_DELEGATED' — Specifies the type of KYB workflow to run.
  - Kyc
    - `external_id` string — A user provided id that can be used to link an account holder with an external system
    - `individual` KycIndividual, required — Individuals associated with a KYC application.
      - `address` Address, required
        - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
        - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
        - `city` string, required — Name of city.
        - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
        - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
        - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
      - `dob` string, required — Individual's date of birth, as an RFC 3339 date.
      - `email` string, required — Individual's email address. If utilizing Lithic for chargeback processing, this customer email address may be used to communicate dispute status and resolution.
      - `first_name` string, required — Individual's first name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `government_id` string, required — Government-issued identification number (required for identity verification and compliance with banking regulations). Social Security Numbers (SSN) and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) are currently supported, entered as full nine-digits, with or without hyphens
      - `last_name` string, required — Individual's last name, as it appears on government-issued identity documents.
      - `phone_number` string, required — Individual's phone number, entered in E.164 format.
    - `kyc_passed_timestamp` string — An RFC 3339 timestamp indicating when precomputed KYC was completed on the individual with a pass result. This field is required only if workflow type is `KYC_BYO`.
    - `tos_timestamp` string, required — An RFC 3339 timestamp indicating when the account holder accepted the applicable legal agreements (e.g., cardholder terms) as agreed upon during API customer's implementation with Lithic.
    - `workflow` 'KYC_BASIC' | 'KYC_BYO', required — Specifies the type of KYC workflow to run.
  - KycExempt
    - `address` Address, required
      - `address1` string, required — Valid deliverable address (no PO boxes).
      - `address2` string — Unit or apartment number (if applicable).
      - `city` string, required — Name of city.
      - `country` string, required — Valid country code, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 three-character format. Only USA is currently supported for all workflows. KYC_EXEMPT supports CAN additionally.
      - `postal_code` string, required — Valid postal code. USA postal codes (ZIP codes) are supported, entered as a five-digit postal code or nine-digit postal code (ZIP+4) using the format 12345-1234. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian postal codes.
      - `state` string, required — Valid state code. USA state codes are supported, entered in uppercase ISO 3166-2 two-character format. KYC_EXEMPT supports Canadian province codes.
    - `business_account_token` string — Only applicable for customers using the KYC-Exempt workflow to enroll authorized users of businesses. Pass the account_token of the enrolled business associated with the AUTHORIZED_USER in this field.
    - `email` string, required — The KYC Exempt user's email
    - `external_id` string — A user provided id that can be used to link an account holder with an external system
    - `first_name` string, required — The KYC Exempt user's first name
    - `kyc_exemption_type` 'AUTHORIZED_USER' | 'PREPAID_CARD_USER', required — Specifies the type of KYC Exempt user
    - `last_name` string, required — The KYC Exempt user's last name
    - `phone_number` string, required — The KYC Exempt user's phone number, entered in E.164 format.
    - `workflow` 'KYC_EXEMPT', required — Specifies the workflow type. This must be 'KYC_EXEMPT'

## Response `200`

OK

- object
  - `account_token` string, uuid, required — Globally unique identifier for the account.
  - `created` string, date-time — Timestamp of when the account holder was created.
  - `external_id` string — Customer-provided token that indicates a relationship with an object outside of the Lithic ecosystem.
  - `status` 'ACCEPTED' | 'PENDING_REVIEW' | 'PENDING_DOCUMENT' | 'PENDING_RESUBMIT' | 'REJECTED', required — KYC and KYB evaluation states. Note: * `PENDING_REVIEW` is only applicable for the `KYB_BASIC` workflow.
  - `status_reasons` StatusReasons[], required — Reason for the evaluation status.
  - `required_documents` RequiredDocument[] — Only present for "KYB_BASIC" workflow. A list of documents required for the account holder to be approved.
    - `entity_token` string, uuid, required — Globally unique identifier for an entity.
    - `valid_documents` string[], required — A list of valid documents that will satisfy the KYC requirements for the specified entity.
    - `status_reasons` string[], required — Provides the status reasons that will be satisfied by providing one of the valid documents.
  - `token` string, uuid, required — Globally unique identifier for the account holder.

## Other responses

- `400` — A parameter in the query given in the request does not match the valid queries for the endpoint.
- `401` — | | | |---|---| | User has not been authenticated | Invalid or missing API key | | API key is not active | The API key used is no longer active | | Could not find API key | The API key provided is not associated with any user | | Please provide API key in Authorization header | The Authorization header is not in the request | | Please provide API key in the form Authorization: [api-key] | The Authorization header is not formatted properly | | Insufficient privileges. Issuing API key required | Write access requires an Issuing API key. Reach out at [lithic.com/contact](https://lithic.com/contact) | | Insufficient privileges to create virtual cards. | Creating virtual cards requires an additional privilege | Reach out at [lithic.com/contact](https://lithic.com/contact) |
- `429` — Client has exceeded the number of allowed requests in a given time period. | | | |---|---| | Rate limited, too many requests per second | User has exceeded their per second rate limit | | Rate limited, reached daily limit | User has exceeded their daily rate limit | | Rate limited, too many keys tried | One IP has queried too many different API keys |

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/lithic-com/apis/lithic-developer-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/lithic-com/apis/lithic-developer-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/lithic-com/lithic-developer-api/revisions/53ab5d4e2adb/schema)