# Create a Counterparty

Counterparties must be pre-registered to transact on the Tesser platform. Registering counterparties in advance of submitting payouts enables OFAC (sanctions) screening and helps meet regulatory requirements.

**Counterparty creation**

To create a counterparty, submit a request to the [counterparty creation API](/api/counterparties#create-a-new-counterparty) and populate the appropriate fields for the individual or business.

*Note: Individuals are natural persons; businesses are registered legal entities.

Select a type of customer you want to create:

<Tabs>
  <TabItem label="Individual">

Example: Individual counterparty creation request

```json
{
  "classification": "individual",
  "individual_first_name": "John",
  "individual_last_name": "Doe",
  "individual_address_country": "US",
  "individual_date_of_birth": "1980-01-01",
  "individual_national_identification_number": "123456789",
  "individual_street_address1": "123 Main St",
  "individual_street_address2": "Apt 4B",
  "individual_city": "New York",
  "individual_state": "NY",
  "individual_postal_code": "10001"
}
```

In the successful response you receive a unique id for the counterparty.

```json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "c7d8e9f0-1a2b-3c4d-5e6f-789012345678",
    "workspace_id": "b53f6690-3242-4942-9907-885779632832",
    "classification": "individual",
    "tenant_id": null,
    "individual_first_name": "John",
    "individual_last_name": "Doe",
    "individual_address_country": "US",
    "individual_date_of_birth": "1980-01-01",
    "individual_national_identification_number": "123456789",
    "individual_street_address1": "123 Main St",
    "individual_street_address2": "Apt 4B",
    "individual_city": "New York",
    "individual_state": "NY",
    "individual_postal_code": "10001",
    "business_legal_name": null,
    "business_dba": null,
    "business_address_country": null,
    "business_street_address1": null,
    "business_street_address2": null,
    "business_city": null,
    "business_state": null,
    "business_legal_entity_identifier": null,
    "created_at": "2024-03-01T10:00:00.000Z",
    "updated_at": "2024-03-01T10:00:00.000Z"
  }
}
```

  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="Business">

Example: Business counterparty creation request

```json
{
  "classification": "business",
  "business_legal_name": "Acme Corporation",
  "business_dba": "Acme Co",
  "business_address_country": "US",
  "business_street_address1": "456 Corp Blvd",
  "business_street_address2": "Suite 200",
  "business_city": "San Francisco",
  "business_state": "CA",
  "business_legal_entity_identifier": "1234567890"
}
```

In the successful response you receive a unique id for the counterparty.

```json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "workspace_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
    "classification": "business",
    "tenant_id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "individual_first_name": null,
    "individual_last_name": null,
    "individual_street_address1": null,
    "individual_street_address2": null,
    "individual_city": null,
    "individual_state": null,
    "individual_postal_code": null,
    "individual_address_country": null,
    "individual_date_of_birth": null,
    "individual_national_identification_number": null,
    "business_legal_name": "Acme Corporation",
    "business_dba": "Acme Co",
    "business_address_country": "US",
    "business_street_address1": "456 Corp Blvd",
    "business_street_address2": "Suite 200",
    "business_city": "San Francisco",
    "business_state": "CA",
    "business_legal_entity_identifier": "1234567890",
    "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
    "updated_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
  }
}
```

  </TabItem>
</Tabs>