> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.fossapay.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Customers

> Understanding customer management in FossaPay

## What are Customers?

Customers represent your end users within the FossaPay ecosystem. Every wallet, transaction, and compliance check is associated with a customer account.

<Info>
  Customer accounts are required before you can create wallets or perform transactions on behalf of your users.
</Info>

## Customer Lifecycle

### 1. Customer Creation

Create a customer account with basic information:

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api-production.fossapay.com/api/v1/customers \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    firstName: 'John',
    lastName: 'Doe',
    middleName: 'Michael',
    emailAddress: 'john.doe@example.com',
    mobileNumber: '+2348012345678',
    dob: '1990-08-15',
    address: '123 Main Street',
    city: 'Lagos',
    country: 'Nigeria',
    type: 'individual'
  }'
```

### 2. Wallet Creation

Once verified, create wallets for the customer:

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api-production.fossapay.com/api/v1/wallets/fiat/create \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "customerId": "cus_123456789",
    "walletName": "Main Wallet",
    "walletReference": "wallet_ref_001"
  }'
```

## Customer Tiers

Currently, FossaPay supports individual customer accounts. All customers are created with the `individual` tier.

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Store Customer IDs">
    Always store FossaPay customer IDs in your database for future API calls.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use Metadata">
    Store additional customer data in metadata for easier management.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card color="#0080FF" title="Create Customer API" icon="code" href="/api-reference/customers/create-customer">
    API reference for customer creation
  </Card>

  <Card color="#0080FF" title="Wallets" icon="wallet" href="/concepts/wallets">
    Create wallets for customers
  </Card>
</CardGroup>