Introducing API v2

We are excited to announce the launch of API v2 (release 2024-04-04), the highly anticipated second version of Method’s API. Over the past year, our team has been dedicated to gathering feedback and working closely with our clients to create an even more powerful and developer-friendly API. This release is packed with new features and enhancements that build upon Method’s credential-less consumer permissioned financial network. Expanded integrations with Visa/Mastercard power new features such as real-time credit card transaction notifications, and enabling 1-click checkout experiences for merchants. This is in addition to our real-time financial institution liability updates, which have been significantly upgraded to provide better accuracy, expanded coverage, and reduced latency.

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Upgrading to 2024-04-04

The new API version is available to all existing teams. New teams are automatically pinned to the API version 2024-04-04. During the transition phase, teams will be allowed to utilize any API version in tandem. Note that once upgraded manually, it’s not possible to revert to older versions. Contact your Method CSM for more information on upgrade rollbacks.

• Request Header: Set Method-Version to 2024-04-04. See API Versioning for more information.
• Client Libraries: For Method Libraries, the version is locked to the dated version of the API. For example, method-node v0.x.x is locked to 2020-12-06, while method-node v1.x.x is locked to 2024-04-04 and onwards.

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Upgrade Support

Our technical integration team is here to help! Contact your Method CSM for a 1:1 on best practices and support migrating to 2024-04-04 ✨ Ask Method: The search bar of our docs now includes a conversational LLM search powered by ChatGPT. Feel free to ask any questions and receive a personalized answer. Sample questions:

How are auth_sessions different in the new version of the API?

What are the new products in 2024-04-04?

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Entities

New endpoints have been introduced for verification sessions, identities, connect operations, credit scores, products, and subscriptions. Several endpoints, including auth session, credit scores, and sensitive information retrieval, have been deprecated. The connect endpoint now fetches all liability accounts across Method’s network of financial institutions, replacing auth_session. The verification sessions endpoint manages methods for verifying an entity’s phone and identity, while the identities endpoint retrieves the underlying identity (PII) of an entity. The products and subscriptions endpoints provide an overview of the products and continuous updates available for entities.

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New Features

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The Connect endpoint

Connect identifies and connects all the liability accounts (e.g., credit card, mortgage, auto loans, student loans, etc.) for an entity across Method’s network of 1500+ financial institutions/lenders.

• The Connect endpoint replaces:
  • Auth Session: POST /entities/{ent_id}/auth_session

See Connect for more information.

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The Credit Scores endpoint

Credit Scores returns the latest credit score and score factors for an entity.

• The Credit Scores endpoint replaces:
  • Credit Score: GET /entities/{ent_id}/credit_score

See Credit Scores for more information.

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The Verification Sessions Endpoint

Entity Verification Sessions manage the methods for verifying an entity’s phone and identity. Entities need to verify their identity and/or phone to be used throughout the Method API. The status of an entity’s verification is returned via the verification field in the Entity object.

• The Verification Sessions endpoint replaces:
  • KBA questions via Auth Session: POST /entities/{ent_id}/auth_session is replaced by kba entity verification session.
  • Non-KBA authentication via Auth Session: POST /entities/{ent_id}/auth_session is replaced by byo_kyc entity verification session.
  • individual.phone_verification_type and individual.phone_verification_timestamp via the create Entity request are replaced by byo_sms phone verification requirements.
  • Utilizing capabilities, available_capabilities, and pending_capabilities in the Entity object to verify if an entity’s identity has been matched or if more PII is required.
    • This flow is now replaced by verification.identity.verified and verification.identity.matched in the verification field in the Entity object.
• Upgrade notes:
  • The verification field in the Entity object returns the status of Identity Verification (verification.identity) and Phone Verification (verification.phone).
  • The method key in the entity.verification object enumerates the phone and identity verifications available for your entity.
    • Available verification methods differ on a team-by-team basis and are further defined by the PII provided during entity creation. See PII Requirements for more information.
    • Teams with pre-defined PII requirements can utilize byo_kyc to skip KBA, and byo_sms to skip phone verification.
  • Teams upgrading from a prior API version might have some verifications auto-generated. Contact your Method CSM for more info.
  • The status key in an entity will only transition to active when all verification requirements have been completed.

See Verification Sessions for more information.

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The Identities endpoint

Entity Identities endpoint is used to retrieve the underlying identity (PII) of an Entity.

• The Identities endpoint replaces:
  • Entity Sensitive: GET /entities/{ent_id}/sensitive

See Identities for more information.

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The Products endpoint

Entity Products endpoint outlines the products (capabilities) an entity has access to and provides an overview of the status of all the products. Products are Method endpoints available for an entity. Access to most products requires an entity to be active. However, some products have restricted access requiring team-by-team enablement. See List all Products for more information. Entity Products:

• The Products endpoint replaces:
  • Utilizing capabilities, available_capabilities, and pending_capabilities in the Entity object to determine the capabilities an entity has access to. These fields have been deprecated from the Entity object and removed in favor of:
    • products (products available for this entity)
    • restricted_products (products not currently available, but can be made available)

See Products for more information.

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The Subscriptions endpoint

Entity Subscriptions endpoint controls the state of all subscriptions for an entity. Subscriptions are products that can provide continuous updates via webhooks (e.g., Credit Score Subscription provides updates on an entity’s credit score). Entity Subscriptions:

• The Subscriptions endpoint replaces:
  • Custom configuration for continuous credit report pulls via your Method CSM. This has been deprecated and replaced by Create a Subscription endpoint.

See Subscriptions for more information.

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Breaking Changes

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Entity object changes

• ✨ Corporation entity types have been simplified to corporation during Create a Corporation entity.
  • c_corporation, s_corporation, llc, partnership, and sole_proprietorship have been deprecated and removed in favor of corporation
• ✨ Providing SSN is now supported during Create an Individual entity.
  • individual.ssn, and individual.ssn_4
• ✨ Entity verification status is now returned by the Entity object. See Entity object for more information.
  • verification
• ✨ Products and subscription status are now returned by the Entity object. See Entity object for more information.
  • products
  • restricted_products
  • subscriptions
  • available_subscriptions
  • restricted_subscriptions
• ⛔ Phone verification has been replaced and no longer returned by the Entity object.
  • individual.phone_verification_type, and individual.phone_verification_timestamp have been deprecated and removed in favor of Entity Verification Sessions
• ⛔ Entity capabilities have been deprecated and removed from the Entity object.
  • capabilities, available_capabilities, and pending_capabilities have been deprecated and removed in favor of Products, Subscriptions, and Entity Verification Sessions
    • The verification field in the Entity object returns the status of Identity Verification (verification.identity) and Phone Verification (verification.phone).
    • The products array returns the products the entity has access to, replacing capabilities.
    • The restricted_products array returns the products the entity does not have access to, replacing pending_capabilities.
    • The Entity Products endpoint outlines the products (capabilities) an entity has access to and provides an overview of the status of all the products.
• The following fields have been modified in the Entity object:
  Fields removed from Entity

  • individual.phone_verification_type
  • individual.phone_verification_timestamp
  • capabilities
  • available_capabilities
  • pending_capabilities

  Fields added to Entity

  • individual.ssn
  • individual.ssn_4
  • verification
  • products
  • restricted_products
  • subscriptions
  • available_subscriptions
  • restricted_subscriptions

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Deprecated endpoints

The following endpoints have been deprecated and removed in 2024-04-04

• Auth Session: /entities/{ent_id}/auth_session removed in favor of Connect
• Credit Score: /entities/{ent_id}/credit_score removed in favor of Credit Scores
• Entity Sensitive: /entities/{ent_id}/sensitive removed in favor of Identities
• Refresh Capabilities: /entities/{ent_id}/refresh_capabilities is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• Manual Auth Session: /entities/{ent_id}/manual_auth_session is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• Entity Vehicles: /entities/{ent_id}/vehicles is no longer supported in 2024-04-04

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Accounts

New endpoints have been introduced for updates, card brands, payoffs, transactions, balances, verification sessions, and sensitive information. Several endpoints, including account syncs, account verification, and sensitive information retrieval, have been deprecated. The updates endpoint now provides real-time account data directly from financial institutions, replacing syncs, and making liability account data available through the updates endpoint. The verification process for ACH and liability accounts has been streamlined with Account Verification Sessions.

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New Features

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The Updates endpoint

Updates endpoint retrieves in real-time account data including balance, due dates, APRs, directly from the account’s financial institution. Updates is Method’s flagship endpoint and replaces the sync endpoint by enabling push notifications directly from the financial institution. As part of the 2024-04-04 release the Account object has been modified, and most Account data is now returned by an Update object. See Account object changes for more information.

• The Updates endpoint replaces:
  • Syncing an account using /accounts/{acc_id}/syncs has been deprecated and removed in favor of Create an Update
  • Enrolling in auto syncs using /accounts/{acc_id}/sync_enrollment or via your Method CSM has been deprecated and removed in favor of Updates and Subscriptions
  • Sync status fields in the Account response have been deprecated and removed in favor of Updates. Removed fields include:
    • data_status
    • data_sync_type
    • data_last_successful_sync
    • data_status_error
    • data_source
    • data_updated_at
  • Enrollment into credit report-based updates via your Method CSM has been deprecated and removed in favor of the update.snapshot subscription type. See Subscriptions for more information.
  • Liability data at the account level (account.liability.<liability_type>) has been deprecated and removed in favor of an Update object and an expansion. See Account for more information.
  • Utilizing data_status to determine real-time financial institution coverage has been deprecated and removed in favor of the products array including updates. See Updates for more information.
• Upgrade notes:
  • New updates sources: direct and monthly snapshot updates.
    • direct: Near real-time account update (balance, due dates, etc.) from the account’s financial institution (replaces a sync).
    • snapshot: Monthly snapshot update (balance, due dates, etc.) from the account’s financial institution (replaces credit report-based updates).
  • Receiving continuous updates requires a subscription to update or update.snapshot. See Subscriptions for more information.
  • Liability data at the account level (account.liability.<liability_type>) has been deprecated and removed in favor of an Update object and an expansion. See Account for more information.
  • Any account connected using Entity Connect will receive an initial snapshot update and a direct update (when available).
  • Legacy accounts connected via auth_session have been migrated with an Update object pre-populated.

See Updates for more information.

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The Card Brand endpoint

Card Brand endpoint retrieves the associated credit card metadata (Product / Brand Name, Art, etc.) directly from the card issuer. In the future, card brand webhooks will notify in real-time any card changes (e.g., card downgraded, card lost, etc.)

• The Card Brand endpoint replaces:
  • Derived card names in the liability account field name. Migrating to card brand will provide accurate names across any Visa / Mastercard card regardless of issuing bank.

See Card Brand for more information.

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The Payoffs endpoint

Payoffs endpoint retrieves a payoff quote in real-time from the Account’s financial institution / lender. Payoffs are currently only available for Auto Loan and Mortgage accounts.

• The Payoffs endpoint replaces:
  • payoff_amount and payoff_amount_term fields within the auto_loan Account type response. See Updates for more information on the Account object changes.

See Payoffs for more information.

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The Transactions endpoint

Transactions endpoint retrieves real-time transaction (authorization, clearing, etc) notifications for Credit Card Accounts directly from the card networks (Visa, MC). Enrollment for transactions requires a subscription and additional consent using Method’s connect element.

• The Transactions endpoint replaces:
  • Enrollment for transactions using the auth element has been deprecated and removed in favor of the connect element. See Connect Overview for more information.
  • Global transactions endpoint /transactions has been deprecated and removed in favor of account-scoped transactions. See Transactions for more information.
  • transaction:stream capability has been deprecated and removed in favor of the transactions product. See Products for more information.

See Transactions for more information.

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The Balances endpoint

Balances endpoint retrieves the real-time balance from the account’s financial institution. Balance is now available for non-liability accounts such as checking accounts. Contact your Method CSM for early access to expanded Balance coverage.

• The Balances endpoint replaces:
  • The balance field in liability.<liability_type>.balance has been deprecated and removed in favor of:
    • Retrieving balance using the Balances endpoint
    • Retrieving balance and additional liability information using the Updates endpoint

See Balances for more information.

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The Verification Sessions endpoint

Account Verification Sessions manage the methods for verifying an Account to enable specific products for ACH or Liability accounts. For example, ACH Accounts require a verified Account Verification Session before they can be used as a source for Payments.

• The Account Verification Sessions endpoint replaces:
  • ACH Account verification via /accounts/{acc_id}/verification has been deprecated and removed in favor of:
    • An Account Verification Session of one of the available methods: micro_deposits, plaid, mx, or teller.
    • Teams with corporate disbursement ACH accounts can skip verification and a verification will be auto-provisioned with the type of auto_verify.
    • Teams with managed DDAs can whitelist a routing number to skip verification across all their DDAs (routing / account number pair).
    • See Verification Types for more information. A verification of trusted_provisioner will be auto-provisioned. Contact your Method CSM for more information.
  • Liability account number verification for AMEX, Apple Card, etc. is now handled by a standard Account Verification Session. See Update a Standard Verification for more information.
  • Instant Link CVV verification is now handled by a pre_auth Account Verification Session. See Update a Pre-auth Verification for more information.
• Upgrade notes:
  • Teams upgrading from a prior API version might have some verifications auto-generated. Contact your Method CSM for more info.

See Account Verification Sessions for more information.

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The Sensitive endpoint

Sensitive endpoint returns underlying sensitive account information (e.g., PAN, CVV, account number). This product is only available for liabilities and requires verification on a team-by-team basis.

• The Sensitive endpoint replaces:
  • GET /accounts/{acc_id}/sensitive is deprecated and removed in favor of Create a Sensitive.

See Sensitive for more information.

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The Products endpoint

Account Products endpoint outlines the products (capabilities) an account has access to and provides an overview of the status of all the products. Products are Method endpoints available for an account. Most products are accessible by default. However, some products have restricted access requiring team-by-team enablement and elevated account verification. Account Products:

• The Products endpoint replaces:
  • Utilizing capabilities, available_capabilities, and pending_capabilities in the Account object to determine the capabilities an account has access to. These fields have been deprecated from the Account object and removed in favor of:
  • products (products available for this Entity)
  • restricted_products (products not currently available, but can be made available)

See Products for more information.

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The Subscriptions endpoint

Account Subscriptions endpoint controls the state of all subscriptions for an account. Subscriptions are products that can provide continuous updates via Webhooks. (e.g., Transaction Subscription provides real-time updates on a Credit Card’s transactions). Account Subscriptions:

• The Subscriptions endpoint replaces:
  • Custom configuration for continuous syncs via your Method CSM. This has been deprecated and replaced by Create a Subscription endpoint.
  • Account Sync Enrollment /accounts/{acc_id}/sync_enrollment for enrollment in auto syncs. This has been deprecated and replaced with an Updates subscription. See Updates and Create a Subscription for more information.
  • data_sync_type has been removed from the Account endpoint. See Updates and List all Subscriptions for more information.

See Account Subscriptions for more information.

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Breaking Changes

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Account object changes

• ✨ Product properties are now included in the Account object. By default, the ID of the latest product resource is returned and can be expanded in-line using the expand query param. See Expanding Resources for more information.
  • latest_verification_session
  • update
  • balance
  • card_brand
  • payoff
• ✨ Products and Subscription status are now returned by the Account object. See Account object for more information.
  • products
  • restricted_products
  • subscriptions
  • available_subscriptions
  • restricted_subscriptions
• ✨ Liability name and fingerprint are now returned by the Account object. See Account object for more information.
  • liability.name
  • liability.fingerprint
• ✨ New account liability types are now supported and returned by the Account object. See Account Liability Types for more information.
• ⛔ Liability data under the account.liability.<liability_type> property has been deprecated and removed in favor of Updates
  • The updates field returns the ID of the latest update and can be expanded to return liability account data in-line using the expand query param. See Expanding Resources for more information.
• ⛔ Syncing liability data using /accounts/{acc_id}/syncs has been deprecated and removed in favor of Updates
  • Additionally, data sync status fields at the account liability object have been deprecated and removed in favor of status fields within an Update
  • liability.data_status, liability.data_sync_type, liability.data_sync_type, liability.data_last_successful_sync, liability.data_source, liability.data_updated_at, liability.data_updated_at, liability.data_status_error
• ⛔ Account capabilities have been deprecated and removed from the Account object.
  • capabilities, available_capabilities, and pending_capabilities have been deprecated and removed in favor of Products, Subscriptions, and Account Verification Sessions
    • The products array returns the products the account has access to, replacing capabilities.
    • The restricted_products array returns the products the account does not have access to, replacing pending_capabilities.
    • The account Products endpoint outlines the products (capabilities) an account has access to and provides an overview of the status of all the products.
• ⛔ Account payment status (liability.payment_status) has been deprecated and removed in favor of Products
• ⛔ Account clearing (clearing) and liability hash (liability.hash) has been deprecated and removed in 2024-04-04
• The following fields have been modified in the Account object:
  Fields removed from Account

  • liability.payment_status
  • liability.data_status
  • liability.data_sync_type
  • liability.data_last_successful_sync
  • liability.data_source
  • liability.data_updated_at
  • liability.data_status_error
  • liability._liability_type_ - where liability_type is any of the Account Liability Types.
  • liability.hash
  • clearing
  • capabilities
  • available_capabilities
  • pending_capabilities

  Fields added to Account

  • liability.name
  • liability.fingerprint
  • latest_verification_session
  • update
  • balance
  • card_brand
  • payoff
  • products
  • restricted_products
  • subscriptions
  • available_subscriptions
  • restricted_subscriptions

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Deprecated endpoints

• Account Syncs: /accounts/{acc_id}/syncs removed in favor of Updates
• Account Sync Enrollment: /accounts/{acc_id}/sync_enrollment removed in favor of Updates and Subscriptions
• Account Verification: /accounts/{acc_id}/verification removed in favor of Account Verification Sessions
• Account Sensitive: /accounts/{acc_id}/sensitive removed in favor of Sensitive
• Account Card: /accounts/{acc_id}/card removed in favor of Card Brand, Sensitive and Credit Card Account Verification Sessions
• Account Payment History: /accounts/{acc_id}/payment_history is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• Account Details: /accounts/{acc_id}/details is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• Bulk Sensitive: /accounts/{acc_id}/bulk_sensitive is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• Bulk Sync: /accounts/{acc_id}/bulk_sync is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• Account Vehicle: /accounts/{acc_id}/match_vehicle is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• Routing Numbers: /routing_numbers is no longer supported in 2024-04-04
• BINs: /bins is no longer supported in 2024-04-04

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Additional Changes

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Expand Parameter

New expand query parameter for expanding certain properties from an ID to their respective objects in-line in the response body. Applicable to both Entities and Accounts, allowing expansion of fields such as connect, credit_score, update, balance, payoff, sensitive, transactions, card_brand, and latest_verification_session. See Expanding Resources for more information.

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Elements

Introducing the Connect element as the primary way to connect user accounts and complete necessary verifications. The Auth element has been deprecated in favor of Connect. See Connect guide for step-by-step instructions on leveraging Connect.