# Create and Configure a Sandbox Project
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/tutorial/tutorial-1/index.md

You can get started with the Business Payment Controls API by completing the following steps.

### Step 1: Obtain Credentials {#step-1-obtain-credentials}

Obtain a signing key in a PKCS #12 keystore file and a consumer key, which is a unique key assigned to your project. Save the keystore file to a safe location after your browser generates it.

To obtain the keys:

1. On the [My Projects](https://developer.mastercard.com/dashboard) page, select **Create New Project**.
2. Select the **Business Payment Controls API** from the drop-down list.
3. Add a descriptive name. If required, select the **Invite Team Members** check box to add your team members to the project.
4. Select **Download PKCS#12 Keystore** to download the sandbox signing key. Save this key to a safe location and then select **Continue**.
5. Select **Confirm and Continue** to view your consumer key on the dashboard.

### Step 2. Connect to the API {#step-2-connect-to-the-api}

Business Payment Controls API has a fully working reference application written in Java. It contains sample API calls for the end-to-end flow. For more details, refer to the [Reference Application](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/reference-app/index.md) page.