Credit FAQs

Q. What do I need to launch a credit card or revolving credit program?

To launch a credit program, you typically need:

• Access to capital to fund receivables
• A licensed issuing bank partner (BIN sponsor) or your own charter
• Regulatory and compliance oversight
• A card network membership or partnership
• A credit decisioning capability (underwriting and risk rules)
• A loan management and servicing platform

Thredd provides the core issuing infrastructure, transaction processing, and network connectivity, and helps orchestrate integrations across underwriting, servicing, and third-party providers.

Q. Do I need my own bank charter or BIN to issue credit cards?

Not necessarily. Most fintechs and brands launch credit programs through a sponsor bank model, where the partner bank holds the charter, owns the BIN, and acts as the legal issuer of record. Thredd supports both sponsor bank programs and clients operating with their own bank charter and BIN. For non-bank clients, we can support introductions and program structuring with sponsor banks, reducing time to market.

Q. Who provides the capital for consumer credit balances?

Capital can come from several sources depending on program structure:

• The sponsor bank
• A warehouse facility or debt provider
• The program manager or fintech balance sheet
• A structured combination of the above

Thredd does not provide lending capital. We enable the infrastructure to originate receivables, track balances, manage credit lines, and support reporting to capital partners.

Q. Can I customize APRs, fees, and credit rules?

Yes. Credit program flexibility is a core design principle. Clients can configure:

• APR structures, including fixed, variable, or promotional rates
• Fee logic such as late fees, annual fees, or foreign transaction fees
• Credit line assignment rules and underwriting decision trees
• Grace periods and billing cycles
• Risk-based pricing strategies

Final structures remain subject to bank partner approval, card network rules, and applicable regulatory requirements.

Q. How long does it take to go live?

Time to market varies by program complexity, regulatory requirements, and bank partner readiness. Thredd's pre-integrated components and predefined program templates are designed to reduce build time compared to building individual components independently. Contact your account manager for a program-specific estimate.

Q. How does the credit application and decisioning process work?

Applications are submitted through the Thredd Credit API, which triggers automated soft credit checks and third-party decisioning without a hard credit inquiry. If the applicant qualifies, an offer is issued and the client records the applicant's response via the API. On acceptance, a hard credit check is performed automatically. If approved, a line of credit and payment card are created without any further integration steps required. Clients receive real-time updates on application status through Thredd webhooks, which can be used to communicate progress to the applicant through the client's own interface.

Q. Do I need to build my own application journey?

Yes. Thredd provides the API layer and processing infrastructure, but clients are responsible for building the customer-facing application experience — for example, a mobile app or web form that captures applicant information and displays status updates. The Thredd Credit API handles submission, decisioning, and account creation on the back end.

Q. What is the difference between a standard application and a pre-approved application?

A standard application goes through Thredd's full origination flow, including soft credit checks and third-party decisioning. A pre-approved application is for applicants who have already passed the necessary diligence checks before submission. In this case, the credit limit, cash limit, and interest rates are determined prior to the API call, and the standard decisioning flow is bypassed. Clients use a separate endpoint for pre-approved submissions.

Q. How do customers manage their account once a line of credit is live?

Thredd provides a set of read-only Explorer API endpoints that clients can use to power customer-facing account management functionality. These cover the account dashboard (balances, limits, payment information), billing statements, and transaction history. Clients surface this data through their own interface — Thredd does not provide a consumer-facing portal directly.

Q. How are payments processed against a line of credit?

The Thredd Credit API supports two payment flows. Manual payments — for example, cash or check payments collected outside the system — can be logged directly against the account. For automated repayment, clients can set up a scheduled autopay using a bank account linked to the customer, with a choice of standard or same-day ACH transfer. Bank accounts used for autopay must first be created and linked to the customer via the Bank Account endpoints.

Q. Can customers have more than one bank account linked to their credit account?

Yes. The Bank Account endpoints support creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting bank accounts associated with a customer. Multiple bank accounts can be linked to a customer record and used as payment methods for line of credit repayments.

Q. How do I track the status of a credit application?

Application status is returned in the API response when an application is created, and is updated throughout the origination process. Clients can retrieve the current status of any application using the Get Credit Application by ID endpoint, and can view the full history of status changes using the Get Credit Application Timeline endpoint. Status changes also trigger webhook events, enabling clients to notify applicants in real time without polling the API.

Q. What application statuses should I expect, and what do they mean?

An application moves through several statuses during its lifecycle. It is initially set to Pended while identity verification and any manual review checks are completed. If the applicant qualifies, the status moves to Offer Pending Acceptance while the applicant considers the offer — applicants have 30 days to respond. If no response is recorded within 30 days, the application is automatically marked Withdrawn. If the applicant declines the offer, the status moves to Offer Declined. If accepted, the status moves to Offer Accepted while the hard credit check is performed. If the check passes, the status moves to Approved and the line of credit and card are created. If the check fails, the status moves to Declined. Applications can also be Declined earlier in the process if they fail the initial soft credit, KYC, identity verification, or fraud checks.

Q. Is technical documentation available?

Full API reference documentation is available for the Thredd Credit API, covering all endpoints across the Application, Explorer, Bank Account, and Payments capability groups. Documentation includes endpoint descriptions, request and response schemas, field-level definitions, example payloads, and error reference information. For more information, see Introduction to Credit at Thredd.