# Managing Customers

A customer object stores the identifying information of a payer on the Monato platform. Creating customer objects is optional — you can also provide customer data inline on each charge request — but stored objects let you group charges by customer and keep payment data centralised.

## Create a Customer


```bash
curl -X POST https://directdebit.monato.com/customers \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  --data '{
    "name": "John Doe",
    "document_type": "mx_rfc",
    "document_number": "AABB220089",
    "email": "john.doe@example.com",
    "phone_number": "+525512345678"
  }'
```

### Response


```json
{
  "id": "f89c42d8-cd5d-4d51-bf2a-daa66b993d31",
  "org_id": "a0f63202-178c-40fd-8e5b-291c99251a38",
  "name": "John Doe",
  "document_type": "mx_rfc",
  "document_number": "AABB220089",
  "email": "john.doe@example.com",
  "phone_number": "+525512345678",
  "customer_metadata": null,
  "created_at": "2025-09-29T19:48:32.019743Z",
  "updated_at": null
}
```

Save the `id` — it is used to link instruments and charges to this customer.

## Retrieve a Customer


```bash
curl https://directdebit.monato.com/customers/{customer_id} \
  --header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'
```

## List Customers


```bash
curl https://directdebit.monato.com/customers \
  --header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'
```

## Using Customers in Charges

Once created, reference a customer in a charge request using the `customer_id` field alongside an `instrument_id`. See [Creating Charges](/products/directdebit/content/guides/api/charges#option-2-charge-with-stored-objects).