> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.methodfi.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Quickstart > Get up and running with Method's four-step integration process. Getting up and running with Method follows a predictable path, whether you're building a debt repayment app, a financial wellness dashboard, or an embedded lending experience. ## The Four-Step Integration Process Most integrations follow the same high-level pattern, regardless of your specific use case: Every end user in your application maps to an [Entity](/guides/entities/overview) in Method. This is the foundational object that everything else, verification, accounts, payments, attaches to. You provide basic identifying information (name, phone number, and optionally additional PII), and Method creates a persistent identity that follows the user throughout their lifecycle in your product. Before Method can discover a user's accounts or process payments on their behalf, the user must complete [identity verification](/guides/identity-verification/overview). This is a two-part process: first confirming they control their phone number, then verifying their identity through a KYC process. Method supports multiple verification approaches (SMS, silent network auth, KBA, and BYO options). Method will partner with your team to help determine which methods are best suited for your use case and user demographics. Once verified, Method can discover the user's financial liabilities using a soft-pull credit report (no impact to their credit score). This is the moment where your product goes from knowing who a user is to knowing what they owe — and to whom. [Accounts](/guides/accounts/overview) are automatically created in Method as they're discovered, giving you immediate access to liability data across credit cards, loans, mortgages, and more. Each discovered account comes with the data reported to the credit bureau, including balance, credit limit, payment status, account type, and the financial institution that holds the account. From there, you can request real-time [Updates](/guides/updates/overview) to get current balances, due dates, minimum payments, interest rates, and more directly from the institution. With accounts connected, you can now do the things that make your product valuable: pull fresh balance and payment data ([Updates](/guides/updates/overview)), initiate paydowns and bill pay ([Payments](/guides/payments/overview)), monitor for changes over time, and present your users with a clear, actionable picture of their financial obligations. Updates return structured, normalized fields — balances, due dates, minimum payments, interest rates, credit limits, and more — in a consistent format regardless of the underlying financial institution. ## Choosing Your Integration Approach Method offers two primary integration approaches, and understanding the tradeoff early saves significant time: **Best for most teams.** [Opal](/guides/opal) is Method's pre-built, white-labeled UI that handles identity verification, account discovery, and more. It's designed to drop into your application with minimal frontend work while providing a polished, tested user experience. *Choose Opal if you want to move fast, minimize custom UI development, and leverage Method's UX expertise. Most teams start here.* **Best for teams with specific UX requirements.** If you have an existing in-app flow, a highly customized user experience, or specific design requirements that Opal can't accommodate, you can integrate directly with Method's APIs. *This gives you complete control over the user experience but requires more frontend development and ongoing maintenance.* ## Example Integration Paths To make the integration journey concrete, here are three common paths mapped to real product scenarios: Your user signs up → you create an Entity and verify their identity → Method discovers all their liabilities → you display a comprehensive debt overview with balances, interest rates, and payment schedules → you subscribe to updates to keep the dashboard current. *Timeline to first value: the user sees their complete debt picture within minutes of completing verification.* Your user signs up → identity verification → account discovery → you link your corporate account as a funding source → your user flow presents a paydown strategy → payments are initiated through Method → you track each payment from submission to posting and update the user's progress. *This is the full end-to-end loop that turns data into action.* Your user completes the initial setup → you subscribe to account updates and credit score monitoring → Method notifies you when balances change, payments post, credit scores shift, or new accounts appear → your app surfaces these changes as alerts, insights, or progress updates. *The user gets continuous value without ever repeating the setup process.* Your user signs up → you create an Entity and verify their identity → Method discovers their credit card accounts → you retrieve card brand details (card art, product name) and tokenize card credentials via Payment Instruments → your platform uses these tokens for checkout, rewards enrollment, or transaction monitoring. *This flow connects your product to the user's existing cards without manual entry or credential sharing.* ## What's Next Environments, authentication, webhooks, and data flow patterns. Understand Method's object model and dependency chain. Drop-in embedded UI for identity verification and account discovery. Dive into the full API documentation.