Sync a liability's data

✨ Method Sync allows you to retrieve real-time enhanced data for any liability created in Method. Method Sync is available for a fast growing list of merchants.

With Sync, you can fetch key liability details such as interest_rate_percentage, payoff_amount, balance and much more in real-time directly from the financial institution or loan servicer. ➡️ See all available data fields per liability type.

Steps

Create an individual entity to represent your end-user.
Create a liability account which we'll fetch enhanced data for.
Initiate an account sync with the previously created liability account.
Handle the sync events generated by the syncing process.
Retrieve the liability data returned live from the financial institution.

1. Create an individual entity

First we'll create an individual entity. An entity is a representation of your end-user. To initiate a data sync for an account you'll need to provide, at a minimum, the end-user's first_name, last_name and a verified phone number.

Primer on capabilities

Capabilities are an indicator of an entities' status. For this flow we are interested in the data:sync capability. The location of data:sync in an entities' capability fields indicates the next steps.

tip

Entities should only be created once per end-user. Entities can be re-used across all of Method's products.

Field	Meaning	Next Steps
`pending_capability`	We were unable to find the individual using the provided data.	Provide more data using Entity Update endpoint.
`capability`	Entity successfully matched using the provided data.	Sync a liability's data using Account Sync endpoint (this guide!).

caution

For building / testing in Method's dev environment, see Auth Element simulate requirements to determine what information should be submitted for an entity.

Request

cURL
Node.js
Python

POST /entities
curl https://production.methodfi.com/entities \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "individual",
    "individual": {
      "first_name": "Kevin",
      "last_name": "Doyle",
      "phone": "+15121231111",
    }
  }'

POST /entities
const entity = await method.entities.create({
  type: 'individual',
  individual: {
    first_name: 'Kevin',
    last_name: 'Doyle',
    phone: '+15121231111',
  },
});

POST /entities
entity = method.entities.create({
  'type': 'individual',
  'individual': {
    'first_name': 'Kevin',
    'last_name': 'Doyle',
    'phone': '+15121231111'
  }
})

RESPONSE
{
  "id": "ent_au22b1fbFJbp8",
  "type": "individual",
  "individual": {
    "first_name": "Kevin",
    "last_name": "Doyle",
    "phone": "+15121231111",
    "dob": null,
    "email": null
  },
  "capabilities": [
    "payments:receive",
    "payments:send"
  ],
  "available_capabilities": [
    "data:retrieve"
  ],
  "pending_capabilities": [],
  ...
}

2. Create a liability account

Next we'll create liability account we want to retrieve data for. A liability account is any type of liability (personal loans, credit cards, student loans, bills, etc.)

Method Sync is available for a fast growing list of merchants. A liability account with data:sync in available_capabilities indicates that institution participates in Method Sync. For a full list of eligible merchants contact Method Support.

Using Method Data

💡 You can automatically retrieve all of an entity's liabilities using Method Data. See the retrieve an entity's debts guide to learn more.

Demo

Using API

info

To use the direct API method on a live environment you need to be PCI Compliant. Please contact us for more info.

ℹ️ See create an account to learn more

Request

cURL
Node.js
Python

POST /accounts
curl https://dev.methodfi.com/accounts \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "holder_id": "ent_au22b1fbFJbp8",
    "liability": {
      "mch_id": "mch_183",
      "account_number": "4147201234561580"
    }
  }'

POST /accounts
const account = await method.accounts.create({
  holder_id: 'ent_au22b1fbFJbp8',
  liability: {
    mch_id: 'mch_183',
    account_number: '4147201234561580',
  }
});

POST /accounts
account = method.accounts.create({
  'holder_id': 'ent_au22b1fbFJbp8',
  'liability': {
    'mch_id': 'mch_183',
    'account_number': '4147201234561580'
  }
})

RESPONSE
{
  "id": "acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt",
  "holder_id": "ent_au22b1fbFJbp8",
  "type": "liability",
  "liability": {
    "mch_id": "mch_183",
    "mask": "1580",
    "type": "credit_card",
    "data_status": "pending",
    "data_last_successful_sync": null,
    "credit_card": {
      "name": "Chase Sapphire Reserve",
      "balance": null,
      "opened_at": null,
      "last_payment_date": null,
      "last_payment_amount": null,
      "next_payment_due_date": null,
      "next_payment_minimum_amount": null,
      "last_statement_balance": null,
      "remaining_statement_balance": null,
      "available_credit": null,
      "pending_purchase_authorization_amount": null,
      "pending_credit_authorization_amount": null,
      "interest_saving_balance": null,
      "interest_rate_percentage": null,
      "interest_rate_type": null
    }
  },
  "status": "active",
  "capabilities": [
    "payments:receive"
  ],
  "available_capabilities": [
    "data:sync"
  ],
  "error": null,
  "created_at": "2022-02-16T02:56:19.548Z",
  "updated_at": "2022-02-16T02:56:19.548Z"
}

3. Initiate an account sync

Once the account and the entity both have the data:sync capability you can initiate a sync for a specific liability.

A successful sync will enroll the liability in nightly data updates directly from the financial institution. (more on that below! ⤵️)

💡 To check the status of a sync use the data_status and data_last_successful_sync in the account.liability response.

Request

cURL
Node.js
Python

POST /accounts/:account_id/syncs
curl https://production.methodfi.com/accounts/acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt/syncs \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc"

POST /accounts/:account_id/syncs
const account = await method.accounts('acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt').syncs.create();

POST /accounts/:account_id/syncs
account = method.accounts('acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt').syncs.create()

RESPONSE
{
  "data": {
    "id": "acc_sync_6d94yUUMjbcXL",
    "acc_id": "acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt",
    "status": "in_progress",
    "error": null,
    "created_at": "2022-06-14T15:10:28.213Z",
    "updated_at": "2022-06-14T15:10:28.213Z"
  }
}

4. Handle the sync events

Sync is optimized for speed, and will eagerly save / notify of new updates to a liability (even if the sync is still in_progress and incomplete) In practice, this means that some fields might temporarily return null while we wait for data to be received from the financial institution.

Method Sync interfaces directly with financial institutions, as a result, syncs in average take <60 seconds to complete, but in rare-cases can take up to 180 seconds.

💡 To check the status of a sync use the data_status and data_last_successful_sync in the account.liability response.

Subscribe to the account:update webhook to be notified of all data changes / updates.

cURL
Node.js
Python

POST /webhooks
curl https://production.methodfi.com/webhooks \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "account.update",
    "url": "https://api.example.app/webhook",
    "auth_token": "md7UqcTSmvXCBzPORDwOkE"
  }'

POST /webhooks
const webhook = await method.webhooks.create({
  type: 'account.update',
  url: 'https://api.example.app/webhook',
  auth_token: 'md7UqcTSmvXCBzPORDwOkE',
});

POST /webhooks
webhook = method.webhooks.create({
  'type': 'account.update',
  'url': 'https://api.example.app/webhook',
  'auth_token': 'md7UqcTSmvXCBzPORDwOkE'
})

5. Retrieve the liability data

Once the sync is complete you will receive an account:update webhook and the data_status field in the liability will show the status of active.

All the data is immediately available in the liability object. After the initial sync is complete, the liability will be enrolled in nightly data updates. The liability account will update all data on a nightly basis and you'll be notified via the account:update webhook.

Request

cURL
Node.js
Python

GET /accounts/:account_id
curl https://production.methodfi.com/accounts/acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc"

GET /accounts/:account_id
const account = await method.accounts.get('acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt');

GET /accounts/:account_id
account = method.accounts.get('acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt')

RESPONSE
{
  "id": "acc_Zc4F2aTLt8CBt",
  "holder_id": "ent_au22b1fbFJbp8",
  "type": "liability",
  "liability": {
    "mch_id": "mch_183",
    "mask": "1580",
    "type": "credit_card",
    "payment_status": "active",
    "data_status": "active",
    "data_status_error": null,
    "data_last_successful_sync": "2023-01-22T01:23:36.047Z",
    "data_source": "financial_institution",
    "data_updated_at": "2023-01-22T01:23:36.047Z",
    "ownership": "authorized",
    "credit_card": {
      "name": "Chase Sapphire Reserve",
      "balance": 750014,
      "opened_at": "2016-11-25",
      "last_payment_date": "2022-12-28",
      "last_payment_amount": 451757,
      "next_payment_due_date": "2023-01-27",
      "next_payment_minimum_amount": 6500,
      "last_statement_balance": 650043,
      "remaining_statement_balance": 0,
      "available_credit": 1530000,
      "interest_rate_percentage": 23.5,
      "interest_rate_type": "variable",
      "interest_rate_source": "financial_institution",
      "past_due_status": "unknown",
      "past_due_balance": null,
      "past_due_date": null,
      "auto_pay_status": "unknown",
      "auto_pay_amount": null,
      "auto_pay_date": null,
      "sub_type": "flexible_spending",
      "term_length": null,
      "closed_at": null,
      "credit_limit": 2380000,
      "next_statement_date": "2022-12-02",
      "delinquent_status": null,
      "delinquent_amount": null,
      "delinquent_period": null,
      "delinquent_action": null,
      "delinquent_start_date": null,
      "delinquent_major_start_date": null,
      "delinquent_status_updated_at": null,
      "delinquent_history": []
    }
  },
  "status": "active",
  "capabilities": [
    "payments:receive",
    "data:sync"
  ],
  "available_capabilities": [],
  "error": null,
  "created_at": "2022-02-16T02:56:19.548Z",
  "updated_at": "2022-06-14T15:13:09.520Z"
}

Sync a liability's data

Steps​

1. Create an individual entity​

Primer on capabilities​

tip

caution

Request​

2. Create a liability account​

Using Method Data​

Demo​

Using API​

info

Request​

3. Initiate an account sync​

Request​

4. Handle the sync events​

5. Retrieve the liability data​

Request​

Steps

1. Create an individual entity

Primer on capabilities

Request

2. Create a liability account

Using Method Data

Demo

Using API

Request

3. Initiate an account sync

Request

4. Handle the sync events

5. Retrieve the liability data

Request