For those who are not familiar with the term, and without going into the technical details, a token is a chain of characters that has a coherent meaning in certain programming languages.
Why is this relevant for end users or from a client’s perspective?
Tokenization adds security to credit card payments by replacing the customer’s credit or debit card number with a series of randomly generated numbers (TOKEN). These tokens can move through the internet and the existing payment networks, handling the data needed to process payments without exposing the real information, making it possible for the card digits to stay safe inside a security “vault”.
Tokenization is emerging rapidly as the safe solution to protect customer card information and comply with the payment method processing standards, which all participants in this process must meet to achieve the information.
This helps customers complete transactions while providing the least amount of payment details and improving their experience.
Benefits of Tokenization:
- It protects the payment method details.
- It protects personal information.
- It protects the data in the cloud.
- It helps ensure compliance with regulatory obligations, including the PCI DSS standard.
- It safeguards financial data.
These technologies promote the development of a global standard and will help payment product institutions improve. We urge all participants to enroll in the implementation of these alternatives.
Author:
Rafael Murillo Chinchilla, Manager Network of POS & ATMs LATAM in Evertec Costa Rica