create Method

Overview

The create method creates a customer record in the payment processor system. Storing customer details streamlines future transactions and can improve authorization rates.

Business Use Case: A new user signs up for your e-commerce platform. Create their customer profile to enable faster checkout on future purchases.

Purpose

Scenario	Benefit
Faster checkout	Returning customers skip entering details
Payment history	Track all payments by customer
Fraud scoring	Established customers have better risk profiles
Subscriptions	Required for recurring billing setup

Request Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
merchantCustomerId	string	Yes	Your unique customer reference
email	string	No	Customer email address
name	string	No	Customer full name
phone	string	No	Customer phone number
description	string	No	Internal description
metadata	object	No	Additional data (max 20 keys)

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
merchantCustomerId	string	Your customer reference
connectorCustomerId	string	Connector's customer ID (e.g., Stripe's cus_xxx)
status	CustomerStatus	ACTIVE
statusCode	number	HTTP status code

Example

SDK Setup

const { CustomerClient } = require('hyperswitch-prism');

const customerClient = new CustomerClient({
    connector: 'stripe',
    apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    environment: 'SANDBOX'
});

Request

const request = {
    merchantCustomerId: "cust_user_12345",
    email: "[email protected]",
    name: "John Doe",
    phone: "+1-555-123-4567",
    description: "Premium plan subscriber"
};

const response = await customerClient.create(request);

Response

{
    merchantCustomerId: "cust_user_12345",
    connectorCustomerId: "cus_xxx",
    status: "ACTIVE",
    statusCode: 200
}

Best Practices

• Create customers at account signup, not first purchase
• Use consistent merchantCustomerId format
• Store connectorCustomerId for future reference
• Include email for processor communications

Next Steps

• Payment Method Service - Store payment methods for customer
• Payment Service - Process payments with customer ID
• Recurring Payment Service - Set up subscriptions