# Use Cases
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/use-cases/index.md

For information on how to configure a Business Payment Controls API client, review the tutorial [here](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/tutorial/tutorial-2/index.md).

This API supports the following use cases:

#### [Obtain your Entity Identifier (Entity GUID)](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/use-cases/00-entity-identifier/index.md) {#obtain-your-entity-identifier-entity-guiddocumentationuse-cases00-entity-identifier}

* Obtain your company identifier
* Obtain your descendent entity identifiers

#### [Set up authorization controls on real cards](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/use-cases/01-real-cards/index.md) {#set-up-authorization-controls-on-real-cardsdocumentationuse-cases01-real-cards}

* Manage company spending for business and travel expenses
* Add spend controls to restrict spending to permitted categories
* Change real cards that have been lost or stolen

#### [Set up and Manage Virtual Cards](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/use-cases/02-virtual-cards/index.md) {#set-up-and-manage-virtual-cardsdocumentationuse-cases02-virtual-cards}

* Register and set a virtual card to use for payments to suppliers
* Existing virtual cards can be updated or removed as needs change

#### [Transaction Reports and Notifications](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/use-cases/03-reports/index.md) {#transaction-reports-and-notificationsdocumentationuse-cases03-reports}

* Transaction reports can be created for companies to reconcile payments to suppliers, and reconcile accounts.
* Payment authorization notifications are available.

#### [Custom Data Fields](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/use-cases/04-custom-data-fields/index.md) {#custom-data-fieldsdocumentationuse-cases04-custom-data-fields}

Manage Custom Data Fields for real cards

#### [Spend Controls](https://developer.mastercard.com/business-payment-controls/documentation/use-cases/spend-controls/index.md) {#spend-controlsdocumentationuse-casesspend-controls}

Spend Control rules are a set of user-defined authorization controls that Mastercard Business Payment Controls performs on authorization data. A rule can contain one or more spend controls. A real card or virtual card can have one or more rules applied.

## Business Payment Controls API user journey {#business-payment-controls-api-user-journey}

A Business Payment Controls API user can register a real card account, then add a real card contact - that is, the contact for payments and reporting. The user can add a real card as a funding source and generate virtual cards. Spend controls are added to a funding source, and transaction reports can be generated for spending on the card.

### User journey sequence diagram {#user-journey-sequence-diagram}

Diagram account-service-summary