Independent Accounts

Independent accounts (formerly "standalone") are sub-accounts created under a parent account. They process card payments directly — the independent account is the merchant of record and absorbs chargeback risk.

The parent account can perform API actions on behalf of an independent account using the parent's own API key.

The type field (STANDALONE) is deprecated but still appears in API responses for backward compatibility. New integrations should not set type — use capabilities instead. See the Flow Accounts guide for the full account type comparison.

When to use independent accounts

Independent accounts are useful when your platform onboards merchants who need to accept payments under their own name. Common scenarios:

• Marketplaces — sellers on your platform each need their own merchant account to accept payments directly from buyers
• SaaS platforms — your customers use your software to run their business and need to accept payments from their own customers
• Franchise / multi-location businesses — each location operates as its own merchant but is managed centrally by a parent account

In each case, the independent account appears as the merchant of record on the customer's card statement, and the independent account absorbs chargeback risk — not the parent.

If you just need to accept payments yourself (not on behalf of other merchants), you don't need independent accounts — use your own account directly.

Creating an independent account

API reference

The Idempotency-Key header lets you safely retry the request if it fails — see Idempotency.

curl -X POST https://api.synaptopay.com/v1/accounts \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: YOUR_UNIQUE_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "parent": "accounts/acct_YOUR_ACCOUNT",
    "account": {
      "display_name": "Example Merchant",
      "contact_email": "[email protected]",
      "account_holder": {
        "verification_policy": "SYNAPTO_LIABLE"
      },
      "capabilities": {
        "card_payments": {
          "requested": true
        }
      }
    }
  }'

Response

{
  "name": "accounts/acct_INDEPENDENT_ACCOUNT",
  "display_name": "Example Merchant",
  "contact_email": "[email protected]",
  "type": "STANDALONE",
  "state": "ACTIVE",
  "capabilities": {
    "card_payments": {
      "requested": true,
      "state": "PENDING",
      "supported_currency_codes": []
    },
    "transfers": {
      "requested": false,
      "state": "INACTIVE"
    }
  },
  "parent_account_name": "accounts/acct_YOUR_ACCOUNT",
  "create_time": "2025-11-17T16:03:55Z",
  "update_time": "2025-11-17T16:03:55Z"
}

The type: "STANDALONE" field still appears in responses for backward compatibility but is deprecated. The account's behavior is determined by its capabilities, not the type field.

Account fields

Capabilities

Independent accounts support the card_payments capability only:

• card_payments — process card payments where the independent account is the merchant of record. Must be requested during account creation.
• transfers — not supported for independent accounts. Do not set requested: true.
• balance — not requested. Independent accounts do not participate in the fund pool. For accounts that hold balance and receive transfers, see Fund Pool Members.

Card payments boarding

When an independent account is created with card_payments.requested: true, the capability starts in PENDING state. Synapto will contact the merchant at the provided contact_email to complete boarding. Once boarding is complete, the capability moves to ACTIVE and supported_currency_codes will be populated.

Verification

Independent accounts use SYNAPTO_LIABLE verification — Synapto is responsible for verifying the identity of the account holder.