{"id":346,"date":"2021-10-19T13:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T13:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platforms.globalpayments.com\/en\/?p=346"},"modified":"2025-08-18T01:59:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T01:59:05","slug":"protecting-credit-card-data-with-payment-tokenization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platforms.globalpayments.com\/en\/blog\/protecting-credit-card-data-with-payment-tokenization\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting credit card data with payment tokenisation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What is credit card payment tokenisation?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Credit card payment tokenisation is all about keeping card numbers safe online. When a consumer pays for something through a webpage or mobile app, their card number enters a complicated ecosystem, traveling through several institutions before the payment is successful and the merchant receives money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process takes mere seconds, but with every stop along the way, card numbers are vulnerable and can be stolen. With payment tokenisation, card numbers are protected from fraudsters because the card numbers themselves are never released by the merchant into the payment ecosystem to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what happens instead. The process of tokenisation entails:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Securing card numbers in a cloud-based vault as soon as a payment is made<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Creating and transmitting a substitute value<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The substitute value is called a token. It\u2019s a unique number, generated by an algorithm, to represent a consumer\u2019s payment details as it goes through the system. If a token is stolen, it has practically zero value to the thief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tokenisation vs. encryption \u2013 what\u2019s more secure?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Tokenisation is not the same as encryption, where the card number is hidden within the encrypted data and can be deciphered with a key. Tokens have nothing to do with the real payment data other than it\u2019s associated with that data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Compared to encryption, tokenisation is more cost-effective and secure. It\u2019s no surprise, then, that tokenisation is becoming a standard security measure in the payments industry, especially for recurring payments and subscription services where card data has to be stored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    What are the benefits of payment tokenisation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    There are many benefits of online payment tokenisation in addition to the ones mentioned below \u2013 not only for consumers but for anyone who accepts payments. If you are a SaaS provider, here are the biggest advantages tokenisation provides you and your clients:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    Key benefits<\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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