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

# Create Customer

> Bridge page for reviewed identity-customer creation and compatibility customer overlays

For new integrations on the reviewed public gateway, create customer records through the tenant-gated identity surface:

```text theme={null}
POST /api/v1/identity/customers
```

<Warning>
  The older customer-overlay create route is not part of the reviewed public API contract. Use it only if Zentra has issued your tenant a compatibility-layer customer contract.
</Warning>

## Reviewed Public Status

* `POST /api/v1/identity/customers` is the reviewed create route when the identity-customer surface is enabled for your tenant
* the exact payload and downstream KYC behavior remain tenant-gated
* you should not assume every environment exposes the same identity provider mix or response details

## Common Request Inputs

The reviewed OpenAPI models this route with a generic request envelope, so the exact accepted fields depend on your enabled identity program. Common fields usually include:

* stable customer reference or external identifier
* legal name fields
* contact fields such as `email` or `phone`
* country or locale information when required
* metadata for your own reconciliation

## Integration Guidance

* keep retries idempotent with a stable business identifier
* avoid storing more PII than you need in your own systems
* treat identity customer creation as a tenant-gated onboarding step, not a universal primitive for every product flow

## Example Request

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api.usezentra.com/api/v1/identity/customers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SECRET_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "external_reference": "cust_123",
    "first_name": "John",
    "last_name": "Doe",
    "email": "john.doe@example.com",
    "phone": "+2348012345678",
    "metadata": {
      "source": "mobile_app"
    }
  }'
```

<Info>
  Confirm the exact identity-customer schema enabled for your tenant before shipping to live. The goal of this page is to point new integrations at the right reviewed route family, not to freeze a one-size-fits-all payload.
</Info>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Identity Overview" icon="shield-check" href="/api-reference/identity/overview">
    Review the tenant-gated identity surface
  </Card>

  <Card title="Verify BVN" icon="user-check" href="/api-reference/identity/verify-bvn">
    Continue into the reviewed verification flow
  </Card>

  <Card title="Virtual Accounts" icon="building-columns" href="/api-reference/virtual-accounts/create">
    Create a receiving account after onboarding
  </Card>

  <Card title="Support" icon="headset" href="/support/contact">
    Confirm your enabled identity-customer contract
  </Card>
</CardGroup>