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

# Onboard a Person

## What is a Person?

A **Person** in the GrailPay Payments API represents an individual who can send or receive ACH transfers. Each person is
uniquely identified by a `uuid`, which is returned upon successful onboarding and is required for future operations
such as linking bank accounts and initiating transfers.

The first step in integrating with the GrailPay Payments API is to onboard a person and this guide outlines the onboarding
workflow and provides context for common use cases. For complete request and response
schemas, refer to the [Onboard a Person OpenAPI Documentation](https://api.grailpay.com/api/documentation#/Users/f60626f153fa21e572de57ce1c91fc4d).

<Note>
  We do have an alternative onboarding method outside of our API that allows you to create a person using our BankLink
  SDK product.  This method allows you to embed our bank link SDK directly into your application and users can connect
  their bank account using open banking.  For more information, see the [BankLink SDK documentation](../bank-link-sdk/overview).
</Note>

***

## Testing

When testing in GrailPay’s sandbox environment, you can create a person as usual. To include a bank account, simply
use any random 12-digit account number along with one of our supported test routing numbers.

For more details, refer to the [Technical Overview](/docs/technical/overview#testing) guide.

## Step 1: Collect Person Information

To create a person, you can provide any combination of the following fields:

* First name
* Last name
* Email
* Phone
* Address

<Info>
  While only a bank account is required to create a person, we **strongly recommend** supplying full information to
  ensure a smooth onboarding experience and help meet regulatory and compliance standards.
</Info>

See [Onboard a Person OpenAPI Documentation](https://api.grailpay.com/api/documentation#/Users/f60626f153fa21e572de57ce1c91fc4d) for the full
payload and optional parameters such as **client\_reference\_id**.

***

## Step 2: Link to a Merchant for Billing Attribution

If you want to associate billable events with a merchant, include the **billing\_merchant\_user\_uuid** in your request
payload. This value should reference a user tied to a KYB-verified merchant.  You will receive this UUID when you onboard
the merchant using the [Onboard a Merchant](onboard-a-merchant) endpoint.

**Field:**
`billing_merchant_user_uuid` — UUID of the merchant user that should receive billing attribution.

This enables GrailPay to accurately report on merchant usage and ensures billing traceability across your organization.

<Info>
  While adding a billing user uuid is not required, we **strongly recommend** supplying this information to ensure
  accurate tracking of usage for your internal billing purposes.
</Info>

***

## Step 3: Provide a Bank Account

You can onboard a person with or without a connected bank account. If you choose to provide one, we support two methods:

### Option A: Link a Plaid Account

If you're using Plaid for bank account linking, include the following fields:

* `bank_account.plaid.access_token`
* `bank_account.plaid.account_id`

For integration details, refer to the [Onboard a Person OpenAPI Documentation](https://api.grailpay.com/api/documentation#/Users/f60626f153fa21e572de57ce1c91fc4d).

### Option B: Manual Entry

You can also onboard a person using manually provided account details:

* `account_number`
* `routing_number`
* `account_name`
* `account_type` (`checking` or `savings`)

#### Real-Time Validation (Recommended)

To reduce fraud risk and ensure funds can be successfully routed, we recommend enabling real-time bank account validation
during onboarding. This feature is powered by our [Account Intelligence](/docs/risk/bank-accounts/account-intelligence) product,
which provides intelligent validation of routing and account numbers at the time of submission.

To enable this, include an actions object in your onboarding request:

<CodeGroup>
  ```json Success (200) theme={"system"}
  {
    "actions": {
      "account_intelligence": {
        "version": "v3",
        "name_match": true
      }
    }
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

This validation step confirms that the provided routing and account numbers are both valid and correctly formatted. If
name\_match is enabled, it also checks that the account holder’s name aligns with the expected identity. In addition to
these checks, the response includes a **Risk Score** and a set of decisioning insights that explain how the account was
evaluated.

To understand the full structure of the response and how to interpret the results, refer to
our [Account Intelligence](/docs/risk/bank-accounts/account-intelligence#response) documentation.

Although optional, enabling this validation is strongly recommended for all production integrations to reduce failure
rates and improve payout reliability.

***

## Step 4: Review the Response

Upon success, you’ll receive a response containing:

* The person’s `uuid`
* Echoed values such as name and address
* Status of the onboarding
* An account intelligence object (if validation was requested)

Full response schema is available in the [Onboard a Person OpenAPI Documentation](https://api.grailpay.com/api/documentation#/Users/f60626f153fa21e572de57ce1c91fc4d).

***

### Error Handling

The onboarding endpoint may return the following common HTTP status codes:

| Status Code | Description                                                        |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `400`       | Bad Request — e.g., missing headers or malformed request           |
| `401`       | Unauthorized — invalid or malformed token                          |
| `403`       | Forbidden — blocked IP address or restricted access                |
| `406`       | Not Acceptable — failed account validation or invalid billing UUID |
| `422`       | Unprocessable Entity — field-level validation errors               |

For complete error formats and examples, visit the [Onboard a Person OpenAPI Documentation](https://api.grailpay.com/api/documentation#/Users/f60626f153fa21e572de57ce1c91fc4d).

***

## Try It Out

You can use the [API Explorer](https://api.grailpay.com/api/documentation#/Users/f60626f153fa21e572de57ce1c91fc4d) to
test onboarding flows interactively. This tool allows you to enter a payload, submit a request, and view the response
in real time.

***

## Questions?

If you're encountering any issues, please reach out to [support@grailpay.com](mailto:support@grailpay.com).

***