Intent

With Intent, you can reduce latency and increase data freshness for eligible users. Call Intent when a user reaches a milestone that indicates they are likely to enter your Entity creation flow. Send the user’s identifying information. If Method finds a match, it begins preparing data for eligible Accounts in the background, reducing the time the user will need to wait later in the flow.

Contact your Method CSM to request access and confirm the event values enabled for your team.

When to Call Intent

Mirror the meaningful journey events you already track in your product analytics. Send an Intent for each enabled event as it happens, and include the same external_user_id, session_id, and campaign metadata you use to connect the event to your funnel. For example, send an Intent when you issue a prescreened offer and another when the user visits your site. Common journey points include:

You send the user a prescreened or prequalified offer
The user visits your site
The user signs up or signs in
The user becomes eligible for an offer
The user starts an application
The user adds an item to a cart
The user begins checkout

Earlier signals give Method more time to prepare eligible data. Additional signals enable Method to prepare a more up-to-date and complete data set. Intent is a journey event, not a polling mechanism. Method owns the event catalog and provides the event values enabled for your team. Use metadata for customer-specific context.

How It Works

Send the journey event

Send the predefined event, event timestamp, source, and identity. Use identity.entity_id for an existing Entity. Before Entity creation, use identity.individual with first_name, last_name, and at least one of phone, dob, a complete address, or ssn.

Method stores and matches the Intent

Method stores the Intent and compares the submitted identity to individual identity records across Method’s network. This match is internal and does not expose another partner’s data. The response confirms that Method received the Intent but does not disclose whether a match occurred.

Method evaluates eligible work

If Method finds a matching individual, it evaluates Account eligibility, enabled products, and data freshness. Method can prepare data for eligible Accounts in Method’s network to reduce latency and increase data completeness and freshness when the user reaches the consent step. If Method does not find a match, it stores the Intent but does not prepare data for that event.

Continue the normal Method flow

Do not wait for Intent to complete. Continue Entity creation, consent, Connect, and product requests as usual. Method can associate a later matching Entity with the Intent. You do not need to pass an Intent ID during Entity creation. If Method found a match and prepared data, the user experiences less latency with no additional work required from your team.

Quick Start

Send identity data before Entity creation, or send an entity_id for an existing Entity.

curl https://production.methodfi.com/intent \
  -X POST \
  -H "Method-Version: 2026-03-30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: 7bd52b4f-c5e3-4d0c-8b20-6a754781f2d9" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "event": "user_sign_up",
    "session_id": "session_123",
    "timestamp": "2026-09-29T15:04:05Z",
    "source": "app",
    "identity": {
      "individual": {
        "first_name": "John",
        "last_name": "Doe",
        "email": "john.doe@example.com",
        "phone": "+12125550123"
      },
      "external_user_id": "user_123"
    },
    "metadata": {
      "campaign_id": "fall_launch"
    }
  }'

curl https://production.methodfi.com/intent \
  -X POST \
  -H "Method-Version: 2026-03-30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: 24c47283-0cc8-43a0-8b4a-ce16d002de97" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "event": "user_log_in",
    "session_id": "session_123",
    "timestamp": "2026-09-29T15:04:05Z",
    "source": "app",
    "identity": {
      "entity_id": "ent_qKNBB68bfHGNA",
      "external_user_id": "user_123"
    },
    "context": {
      "client_ip_address": "203.0.113.42",
      "client_user_agent": "Method Partner App/1.0"
    },
    "metadata": {
      "experience": "dashboard"
    }
  }'

Event values are configured with Method. Confirm the enabled catalog before building against these examples. Send Intent only from your server. Use the same Idempotency-Key when retrying the same request, and use a new key for each different request. See Idempotency.

Request Fields

event: A predefined Method event. Example values include user_sign_up, user_log_in, commerce.add_to_cart, and lending.user_prequalified.
timestamp: The time the event occurred, in ISO 8601 format.
source: The channel where the event occurred, such as website, app, email, or chat.
identity: The user identity. Send either individual or entity_id. You can also include your external_user_id for correlation; it does not affect identity matching.
- individual: first_name and last_name are required for matching. Include at least one of phone, dob, a complete address (street, city, state, and zip), or ssn. Method matches against identity data already in Method’s network across partners, not only Entities created by your team.
- entity_id: The Method Entity ID for an existing Entity.
session_id (optional): Your identifier for the user session.
context (optional): Request context, including client_ip_address and client_user_agent.
metadata (optional): Free-form fields that provide customer-specific context for the event.

Response

Method acknowledges the request with the stored Intent object:

{
  "id": "int_evt_123",
  "event": "user_log_in",
  "session_id": "session_123",
  "timestamp": "2026-09-29T15:04:05Z",
  "identity": {
    "entity_id": "ent_qKNBB68bfHGNA",
    "external_user_id": "user_123"
  },
  "source": "app",
  "context": {
    "client_ip_address": "203.0.113.42",
    "client_user_agent": "Method Partner App/1.0"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "experience": "dashboard"
  }
}

The response confirms that Method received and stored the Intent. It does not report whether Method matched the individual, started background preparation, or has data ready. Intent does not create an Entity. If you later create an Entity with matching identity data, Method can associate the Intent.

Behavior and Limits

An accepted Intent confirms receipt only. Use Method APIs such as Connect, Updates, and Payments, along with their webhook events, as the source of truth for data availability and status.
Intent does not return consumer financial data. Method returns data through its APIs only after you collect the required user consent.
Method uses data-freshness thresholds and can reuse eligible cached data instead of starting new work for every Intent.
Intent alone does not initiate a new credit report pull.
Intent does not enroll an Entity or Account in a Subscription.

Pricing

There is no incremental charge for Intent requests.

Connect

Discover a user’s liabilities and create Accounts.

Updates

Retrieve current data from supported financial institutions.

Card Brand

Retrieve card names, art, and structured card details.

A complete Intent API reference will be published before general availability.

Getting Started

Entities

Identity Verification

Connect

Accounts

Updates

Payments

Additional Products

Use Cases: Commerce

Use Cases: Lending

Use Cases: PFM

When to Call Intent

How It Works

Quick Start

Request Fields

Response

Behavior and Limits

Pricing

Connect

Updates

Card Brand

​When to Call Intent

​How It Works

​Quick Start

​Request Fields

​Response

​Behavior and Limits

​Pricing

​Related Guides

Connect

Updates

Card Brand

When to Call Intent

How It Works

Quick Start

Request Fields

Response

Behavior and Limits

Pricing

Related Guides