# Card Contract
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-processing-core/documentation/api-basics-section/card-contract/index.md

### Card Contract {#card-contract}

Represents the actual card and is required to complete payment transactions. The card contract is what the cardholder understands as a banking card. It contains properties and functionalities that include usage limits and embossed data. A card contract is created for each account contract. The required dataset to create a card contract is as follows:

* Card [identifiers](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-processing-core/documentation/api-basics-section/object-identifiers/index.md).
* The card contract `productCode` represents the product configuration in our CMS that determines a specific set of parameters (for example, a list of allowed transactions, or risk rules). ![](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-processing-core/uploads/processing_11.png)