CustomerID not set in Tender

[3crossBrewing]

I'm trying to retrieve the Customer ID from an existing Transaction/Tender via the API. If I look an example transaction on my Dashboard, I can see that it is associated with a customer, but when I retrieve that same Transaction via the API, the child Tender object has no customer_id associated with it. Help?

[Helen]

Hello @3crossBrewing, sorry for the delay while we checked in with our API specialists!

The only way to see customers through the API is if the customer is added through the API with the customer_id parameter being active.

Before you can attach a customer_id to a transaction, you’ll need to use the CreateCustomer endpoint to generate a customer_id.

The customers in your online dashboard are viewable because they are customers that were automatically added by Square. Square automatically builds profiles for your customers based on their engagement with your business (i.e. information pulled from their credit/debit card). The customers added by Square will only be viewable through the Dashboard or Point of Sale app. 

Note: Square automatically adds profiles to your Reachable Customers group when a customer:

• Visits your business at least once in the last 12 months
• Pays with a credit or debit card
• Elects to receive a digital receipt via email