> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.revolv3.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Customer

> Learn when and why to use customer records in Revolv3. Understand how customers work, when they're optional, and how to use them effectively.

## What is a Customer?

A **Customer** in Revolv3 is an optional record that represents a person or business that makes payments through your platform. Think of it like a contact in your CRM—it stores information about the customer and links together all their payments, subscriptions, and payment methods.

**Key point**: Customers are **optional** in Revolv3. You can process payments without creating customer records if you prefer to manage customer data in your own system.

## When to Use Customer Records

### Use Customers When:

* **You want to track customer history**: See all payments, subscriptions, and transactions for a specific customer in one place
* **You're building subscriptions**: Subscriptions are easier to manage when linked to customer records
* **You want Revolv3 to manage customer data**: Let Revolv3 store and organize customer information for you
* **You need customer lookups**: Quickly find all transactions for a specific customer
* **You're building a customer portal**: Customers can view their payment history, subscriptions, etc.

### Don't Use Customers When:

* **You manage customers elsewhere**: If you have your own CRM or customer database
* **One-time anonymous payments**: Guest checkout where you don't need to track the customer
* **You want minimal data in Revolv3**: Keep customer data in your own system only
* **Simple integrations**: One-time payments where customer tracking isn't needed

## How Customers Work

### Customer Records Are Optional

**You can:**

* Create customer records and link payments to them
* Process payments without customer records (set `customer` to `null`)
* Mix both approaches (some payments with customers, some without)

**Example without customer:**

```json theme={null}
{
  "Invoice": {
    "Amount": { "value": 10.00 }
  },
  "customer": null  // No customer record
}
```

**Example with customer:**

```json theme={null}
{
  "Invoice": {
    "Amount": { "value": 10.00 }
  },
  "customer": {
    "firstName": "John",
    "lastName": "Doe",
    "email": "john@example.com"
  }
}
```

### What Gets Stored

When you create a customer, Revolv3 stores:

* **Basic info**: Name, email, phone
* **Addresses**: Billing and shipping addresses
* **Payment methods**: Cards and bank accounts linked to this customer
* **Subscriptions**: All subscriptions for this customer
* **Payment history**: All invoices and transactions
* **Metadata**: Custom data you want to store

### Automatic Customer Creation

Revolv3 can automatically create customer records when you process payments.

## Best Practices

2. **Store only what you need**: Don't store sensitive PII unless necessary and compliant
3. **Keep it optional**: Remember customers are optional—don't create them if you don't need them
4. **Update when needed**: Keep customer information current (email, address, etc.)

## Privacy and Compliance

When storing customer data:

* **Validate and sanitize**: Clean data before sending to Revolv3
* **Respect privacy laws**: Follow GDPR, CCPA, and other applicable regulations
* **Use retention policies**: Delete customer data when no longer needed
* **Don't store unauthorized PII**: Only store data you're authorized to collect

## API Usage Notes

* **Customers API**: Use the Customers API to create, retrieve, update, and delete customers
* **Include in payments**: You can include customer data in payment requests, or reference an existing `customerId`
* **Anonymous flows**: For guest checkout or tokenized flows, omit the customer object entirely

## Common Questions

**Q: Do I have to create customers?** A: No, customers are optional. You can process payments without customer records.

**Q: Can I update customer information?** A: Yes, use the Customers API to update customer records.

**Q: What if I manage customers in my own system?** A: You can skip customer records entirely and manage everything in your system.

**Q: Can one customer have multiple payment methods?** A: Yes, customers can have multiple payment methods.

**Q: What happens if I don't provide a customer?** A: The payment processes normally, but no customer record is created. This is fine for one-time payments.

## Next Steps

* [**Create a Subscription**](/docs/core-concepts/subscription/create-subscription) — Learn how customers work with subscriptions
* [**Payment Methods**](/docs/core-concepts/paymentmethod/paymentmethod-guide) — Understand how payment methods link to customers
* [**API Reference**](/api-reference/) — See the full Customers API documentation

***