# Support
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/eligibility-api/documentation/support/index.md

## FAQ {#faq}

#### General {#general}

An API to check the benefits a cardholder may have and details associated with that card or BIN. A vendor can check if the cardholder is eligible for benefits. Issuers, Service Providers and Merchants are all potential consumers of this API. To test the Eligibility API in the Sandbox environment, you create a project, generate sandbox keys, and use the test data. Refer to the Getting Started guide for details. This data can be used to retrieve products, product details, benefits, benefit details, issuer details, policy and coverage information that is assigned to a cardholder's full account number or to the card account's BIN/Product combination. The full card number or BIN number. The date for which benefits are to be determined. Defaults to the current date if not provided. Date format is mm/dd/yyyy. The typical data format used in the Benefits Eligibility APIs is JSON Benefits Eligibility is a global product and is available for all markets. For pricing information on Benefits Eligibility API, contact Mastercard Representative/Account Manager or email [](mailto:eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com)[eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com](mailto:eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com) A access token is digital, not a physical item. It is a message sent from an api to a vendor and stored temporarily by the vendor. The vendor includes a copy of the token in subsequent requests sent to the server to confirm the vendor's authentication status. A card identifier is a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) associated to the card number.

#### Onboarding {#onboarding}

In order to start a project using the Benefits Eligibility API, contact Mastercard Representative/Account Manager or email [](mailto:eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com)[eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com](mailto:eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com) To move from sandbox to production, you must first complete the sandbox testing and validation. Once you are ready to move to production, contact Mastercard Representative/Account Manager or email [](mailto:eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com)[eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com](mailto:eligibilitysupport@mastercard.com). For additional details, refer to the [Onboarding Checklist](https://developer.mastercard.com/eligibility-api/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/onboarding-checklist/index.md).

#### Integration and Troubleshooting {#integration-and-troubleshooting}

The Benefits Eligibility APIs uses synthetic monitoring to continuously verify that the API is available and functioning as expected. This information is publicly available, allowing you to check uptime and review any recent issues. Check the [status page](https://developer.mastercard.com/api-status) to view this information. The API uses OAuth 1.0a for secure authentication. Customers can manage authentication keys in their Mastercard Developers Dashboard. Refer to the [API Basics](https://developer.mastercard.com/eligibility-api/documentation/api-basics/index.md) section for best practices. Yes, a [sandbox environment](https://developer.mastercard.com/eligibility-api/documentation/api-basics/index.md#environments) is available for testing. The sandbox environment contains representative but non-production data, which helps users understand the data structure, and API functionality, before moving to production. For more information, see [Testing](https://developer.mastercard.com/eligibility-api/documentation/testing/index.md).   
**Common causes**

* Your consumer key does not match the one in your Mastercard Developers project.
* Your `.p12` signing key file password is incorrect or the file is corrupted.
* The OAuth timestamp is too far from the server time (must be within 5 minutes).
* The request body was modified after the OAuth signature was computed.

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**Step-by-step solution**

1. Go to your [Mastercard Developers](https://developer.mastercard.com) project page and verify your consumer key.
2. Re-download your `.p12` keystore file and confirm the password is correct.
3. Ensure your system clock is synchronized.
4. If using a custom HTTP client, verify the OAuth signature is computed over the exact request body being sent.
5. Test with the [Postman Collection](https://developer.mastercard.com/eligibility-api/documentation/developer-tools/postman-collection/index.md) to isolate whether the issue is in your signing implementation.

See [Code and Formats](https://developer.mastercard.com/eligibility-api/documentation/code-and-formats/index.md) for more details.

## Get Help {#get-help}

### Contact us for technical support. {#contact-us-for-technical-support}