# Sending a Card Validation

Before sending a [Card Push Transfer](/documentation/api/card-push-transfers),
you confirm with the issuing bank that the recipient's card number is valid and
that the name and address of the cardholder match what they've provided you. You
do this by [creating a Card
Token](/documentation/creating-card-tokens) for the card and then creating a
[Card Validation](/documentation/api/card-validations), a $0 network message
sent to the issuer. Since push-to-card transfers are non-reversible it is
crucial to validate that you are pushing funds to the expected cardholder to
prevent fraud.

## Card Validations

[Card Validations](/documentation/api/card-validations) are $0 account
verifications sent to the card network that are used to verify the validity of a
given card number. They also let you validate the cardholder’s information, such
as their name and their address. Since push-to-card transfers are non-reversible
it is crucial to validate that you are pushing funds to the expected cardholder
to prevent fraud.

Similar to other Increase APIs, the [Card Validation
creation](/documentation/api/card-validations#create-a-card-validation) endpoint
creates a `Card Validation` that then moves through an asynchronous state
machine. To retrieve the outcome of a Card Validation you can either use the
[Card Validation
retrieval](/documentation/api/card-validations#retrieve-a-card-validation)
endpoint or listen for
[`card_validation.created`](/documentation/api/events#event-object.category.card_validation.created)
webhooks.

## Lifecycle

Card Validation status lifecycle

|                |                                                                                                                                                       |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `pending_submission` | The validation is queued to be submitted to the card network.                                                                                                    |
| `submitted`          | The validation has been submitted and is pending a response from the card network.                                                                               |
| `complete`           | The validation has been sent successfully and is complete.                                                                                                       |
| `declined`           | The validation was declined by the network or the recipient's bank.                                                                                              |
| `requires_attention` | A rare status set when a validation needs manual intervention from the Increase team. [More about requires_attention](/documentation/requires-attention-status). |

Once a Card Validation is `complete` and confirms the cardholder, you can
[send a Card Push Transfer](/documentation/sending-card-transfers) to the card.