Single-Use Cards

A single-use card is a virtual card that automatically terminates the moment its first purchase settles. Once the card is used and the transaction clears, Fyatu marks it TERMINATED and fires a CARD_TERMINATED webhook — no manual action required. Single-use cards are ideal for:

Vendor payments — one card per invoice, card is dead after payment settles
Employee expense reimbursements — pre-approved amount, automatic cleanup
Guest checkout — issue a disposable card to a customer, expire it after purchase

Single-use cards must be backed by a product with isOneTimeUse: true. Contact your account manager to enable this flag on a product. Single-use products must also have JIT enabled (hasJIT: true) — the program ledger, not a pre-loaded balance, authorises each transaction.

How It Works

1. Issue card  →  Fyatu creates VIRTUAL card, isSingleUse = true
                  Card network receives a TRANSAMOUNT spend limit (e.g. $100)
                  Card is ACTIVE and ready to use

2. Cardholder pays  →  JIT authorization flow (see JIT Cards)
                        Fyatu checks program balance
                        Fyatu forwards to your CARD_AUTHORIZATION_VERIFY webhook
                        You APPROVE
                        Card network executes transaction

3. Transaction processed → TRANSACTION_PROCESSED fires (status: COMPLETED)
                           Fyatu terminates the card
                           Card status → TERMINATED
                           CARD_TERMINATED fires  (reason: SINGLE_USE_EXHAUSTED)

If the transaction is reversed (merchant cancels before clearing), the card remains ACTIVE so the cardholder can use it again. Termination only fires on a settled, non-reversed clearing.

Issuing a Single-Use Card

The request is identical to any other card — the productId determines the card type. You may optionally set spendingLimit to override the default $100.00 per-transaction cap:

curl -X POST https://api.fyatu.com/api/v3.20/cards \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FYATU_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "cardholderId": "chl_01HXYZ1234ABCDEF5678",
    "productId":    "prd_01HXYZOU123",
    "spendingLimit": 250.00
  }'

Response — isOneTimeUse: true confirms the card will self-terminate:

{
  "success": true,
  "status": 201,
  "message": "Card issued",
  "data": {
    "id":             "crd_01HXYZ9999ABCDEF0001",
    "cardholderId":   "chl_01HXYZ1234ABCDEF5678",
    "productId":      "prd_01HXYZOU123",
    "status":         "ACTIVE",
    "cardType":       "VIRTUAL",
    "cardBrand":      "VISA",
    "maskedPan":      "445123******7890",
    "last4":          "7890",
    "createdAt":      "2026-05-28T10:00:00Z",
    "updatedAt":      "2026-05-28T10:00:00Z",
    "nameOnCard":     "Jane Smith",
    "expirationDate": "05/2029",
    "balance":        0.00,
    "currency":       "USD",
    "features": {
      "hasJIT":          true,
      "has3DS":          true,
      "hasApplePay":     false,
      "hasGooglePay":    false,
      "hasSpendControl": false,
      "hasMccControl":   false,
      "isReloadable":    false,
      "isOneTimeUse":    true
    }
  }
}

Spending Limit

Field	Default	Description
`spendingLimit`	`100.00`	Per-transaction cap sent to the card network. The card will be declined if a merchant attempts to charge more than this amount.

The spendingLimit maps to a TRANSAMOUNT limit type — a single-transaction ceiling enforced by the card network before the authorization even reaches your JIT webhook.

Auto-Termination Lifecycle

After a single-use card settles its first transaction:

Fyatu receives the clearing event from the card network
TRANSACTION_CLEARED fires to your webhook endpoint
Fyatu immediately hard-terminates the card
DB status → TERMINATED, terminatedBy = SYSTEM
CARD_TERMINATED fires with reason: SINGLE_USE_EXHAUSTED

The gap between TRANSACTION_CLEARED and CARD_TERMINATED is typically under one second.

CARD_TERMINATED Webhook

{
  "event":      "CARD_TERMINATED",
  "eventId":    "evt_01HXYZ1122ABCDEF3344",
  "businessId": "BUS1A2B3C4D5E6F",
  "timestamp":  "2026-05-28T10:00:02Z",
  "data": {
    "cardId":      "crd_01HXYZ9999ABCDEF0001",
    "status":      "TERMINATED",
    "cardType":    "VIRTUAL",
    "cardholderId": "chl_01HXYZ1234ABCDEF5678",
    "reason":      "SINGLE_USE_EXHAUSTED"
  }
}

reason: SINGLE_USE_EXHAUSTED distinguishes automatic single-use termination from manual terminations triggered via the API or portal (reason absent or "MANUAL").

JIT Authorization on Single-Use Cards

Single-use cards participate in the full JIT authorization flow. Your CARD_AUTHORIZATION_VERIFY handler receives an extra field:

Field	Type	Description
`isOneTimeUse`	boolean	`true` for single-use cards — use this to apply any special approval logic

The rest of the flow is identical to standard JIT cards. See JIT Cards for the full webhook reference.

Single-Use vs JIT vs Pre-Funded

	Pre-funded	JIT	Single-use
Balance location	On the card	Program ledger	Program ledger
Auth decision	Auto-approved	Your server	Your server
Max transactions	Unlimited	Unlimited	1 (then terminates)
`isOneTimeUse`	`false`	`false`	`true`
Spend limit type	Product-defined	Product-defined	`TRANSAMOUNT`
Best for	Per-employee budgets	Corporate spend	Vendor payments, guest checkout

Sandbox Testing

In SANDBOX mode, JIT authorizations approve automatically and single-use termination fires normally after the clearing event. You can use the simulation endpoint to test the full lifecycle:

# 1. Issue a single-use card (save the cardId from the response)
# 2. Simulate a clearing event via the sandbox simulation endpoint
#    (contact your account manager for the sandbox simulation reference)
# 3. Check card status — should be TERMINATED within 1 second

Webhook Events Summary

Event	When it fires
`CARD_ISSUED`	Card created — `isOneTimeUse: true` in payload
`CARD_AUTHORIZATION_VERIFY`	Synchronous JIT auth — includes `isOneTimeUse` flag
`CARD_AUTHORIZATION`	Post-decision authorization record
`TRANSACTION_CLEARED`	First transaction settled
`CARD_TERMINATED`	Auto-termination complete — `reason: SINGLE_USE_EXHAUSTED`

Getting Started

Concepts

Single-Use Cards

Single-Use Cards

How It Works

Issuing a Single-Use Card

Spending Limit

Auto-Termination Lifecycle

CARD_TERMINATED Webhook

JIT Authorization on Single-Use Cards

Single-Use vs JIT vs Pre-Funded

Sandbox Testing

Webhook Events Summary

​Single-Use Cards

​How It Works

​Issuing a Single-Use Card

​Spending Limit

​Auto-Termination Lifecycle

​CARD_TERMINATED Webhook

​JIT Authorization on Single-Use Cards

​Single-Use vs JIT vs Pre-Funded

​Sandbox Testing

​Webhook Events Summary

Single-Use Cards

How It Works

Issuing a Single-Use Card

Spending Limit

Auto-Termination Lifecycle

CARD_TERMINATED Webhook

JIT Authorization on Single-Use Cards

Single-Use vs JIT vs Pre-Funded

Sandbox Testing

Webhook Events Summary