Tokenisation
What is tokenisation?
A long word for a simple idea. Tokens replace sensitive data such as credit card numbers and bank account details with non-sensitive data that has been randomly generated. When your customers pay online or in-store with a card or mobile device, tokenisation helps make sure that their personal data is not exposed to the risk of fraud. The technology is one of the foundation stones of data security today.

Secure and cost-effective.
Just as casinos use chips rather than physical money, tokens serve to reduce security risks. Thanks to tokenised payment, details about your customers’ credit cards, bank accounts and personal information are kept safe from the threat of a data breach. Attackers cannot use tokens to commit fraud because they bear no relationship to the original personal data. Sensitive customer data is safely stored on secure servers outside the organisation, making compliance with data security standards easier and cheaper.
One-click shopping in safety.
As well as the security benefits of tokens, tokenisation means that merchants can offer faster and smoother checkouts. Customers do not have to enter information repeatedly in every transaction. They can complete a purchase with a single click. Tokenised payments also makes it easier for merchants to implement recurring payments such as subscriptions and to identify individual customers across all a merchant’s sales channels. Retailers can use tokenization to generate data insights and to reward repeat customers in their loyalty and incentive programmes.
Security and implementation challenges.
Not all tokenisation systems are equal. Tokenised payment systems and processes must be protected with strong security controls and monitoring. The PCI Council, the global payments forum for data security, recommends that merchants considering the use of tokenization should perform a thorough evaluation and risk analysis. Merchants should also make sure that tokens can be shared across all their sales channels, seamlessly and without substantial modifications. All tokenization options should be compliant with PCI data security standards.
Who we serve
Worldline enables both issuing banks and merchants to benefit from tokenisation.
Further resources
Find out more
Leila Van-Herbert
Jie Xue
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The future of credit checking and digital lending: fairer, faster, secure | Brochure
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Worldline Authentication server is now certified by FIDO Alliance to make secure passwordfree web authentication
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