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

# Holders and the funding model

> "Who holds the card" and "which account pays" are two independent axes: the holder-to-owner mapping is decided by the balance mode; both funding modes are fund-first, spend-second.

## 📄 Guide

Whether your customers prefer centralised control or budget isolation, you model their accounts and funds on the same set of endpoints. This page explains the two axes that run through every endpoint — the holder and the funding owner — and how the two funding modes differ.

## Holder vs funding owner

"Who the card is issued to" and "which account the money leaves" are two independent axes.

|            | Holder                                           | Funding owner                                                   |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Meaning    | Who the card is issued to / who it belongs to    | Which account holds the money / whose balance moves             |
| Parameters | `subjectType` + `subjectId`                      | `subjectType` + `subjectId`                                     |
| Values     | `ORGANIZATION` / `CUSTOMER`                      | `ORGANIZATION` (company pool) / `CARD` (dedicated-balance card) |
| Used by    | Card management endpoints (apply / query / list) | Fund endpoints (balance / deposits / transfers / records)       |

The mapping between the two is decided by the card profile, `cardProfileId` — the platform guarantees that a given profile always draws on the same funding source:

| Subject subjectType | Card profile cardProfileId | ⇒ Funding owner subjectType                  |
| ------------------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `COMPANY`           | `SHARED` (company pool)    | `COMPANY`                                    |
| `CUSTOMER`          | `SHARED` (company pool)    | `COMPANY` (still the pool, not the employee) |
| `CUSTOMER`          | `DEDICATED` (own balance)  | `CARD` (the card holds its own balance)      |
| `COMPANY`           | `DEDICATED` (own balance)  | `CARD`                                       |

## The funding model

**Fund first, spend second**: the company pool and dedicated-balance cards are each funded by the customer's bank transfer to their own receiving virtual account (VA), with arrival notified over webhook. A SHARED card holds no balance of its own — spending debits the company pool directly; a DEDICATED card holds its own balance and stops when it runs out. The balance acts as the real-time authorization gate.

<Frame>
  <img className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/dcs-0bf7a937/oUoeUKtwWWK2o-Li/imgs/en/diagrams/corp-funding-model-light.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=oUoeUKtwWWK2o-Li&q=85&s=f3f00165ddcae971ca78819861502c05" alt="Company funding pool and card balance modes" width="777" height="362" data-path="imgs/en/diagrams/corp-funding-model-light.svg" />

  <img className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/dcs-0bf7a937/oUoeUKtwWWK2o-Li/imgs/en/diagrams/corp-funding-model-dark.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=oUoeUKtwWWK2o-Li&q=85&s=9259475edd065705ac27a19ae4e36700" alt="Company funding pool and card balance modes" width="777" height="362" data-path="imgs/en/diagrams/corp-funding-model-dark.svg" />
</Frame>

|                         | Company pool mode (SHARED)               | Dedicated balance mode (DEDICATED)              |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Who holds the balance   | The company, shared across cards         | Each card holds its own, earmarked              |
| Spending debits         | The company pool directly                | The card's own balance, until exhausted         |
| Receiving VA            | Company-level, created at onboarding     | Card-level, opened per card on demand           |
| Valid transfer endpoint | Yes                                      | Yes                                             |
| Fits                    | Unified control, centralised bookkeeping | Budget isolation, capping, recoverable balances |

Fund transfers run between the company pool and dedicated-balance cards — same currency, no FX, closed loop within one company: allocate (pool → card) to assign budget, sweep back (card → pool) to recover balance. Cards in company pool mode hold no balance.

## Next steps

* The application, entity and card state machines: [State machines and freezing](./states-and-freezing)
* The operating path for deposits, transfers and reconciliation: [Funding and reconciliation](../how-to-use/funding-and-reconciliation)