Advances in payment transactions tend to start small, establish a solid operational foundation, and then ramp up quickly as merchants and consumers adopt them.
Before you know it, what was once cutting edge is firmly entrenched in mainstream purchasing behavior. Payment tokenization offers a case in point. Like IoT, blockchain and AI, it’s still an emergent technology, and we’re only beginning to explore its full benefits and potential.
The rise of tokenization
Tokenization has been around for a number of years and recently gained a foothold with network tokens such as Google Pay and Samsung Pay. While the number of tokenized transactions is still nominal, that’s expected to change rapidly as card providers roll out their own payment network tokens. As tokenization proliferates— among acquiring banks and merchants, too—it will be fundamentally integrated into digital commerce, from point-of-sale to smart device purchases.
With this proliferation can come IT complexity that obscures a singular view of customers across various devices, locations and experiences. On top of this, tokenization is most commonly recognized as a security solution—a way to protect customer data and nothing more.
The reality is that tokenization holds greater potential than a mere security measure. It actually can enable data interoperability, granting merchants a 360-degree view of customers, which creates better experiences that keeps customers coming back.
One token to rule them all
That’s where we come in. Cybersource Token Management Service adds a unifying layer on top of all these tokens, creating an “omni-token” that allows different tokens to coexist in a single payment environment.
In addition to greatly simplifying life for IT, Cybersource Token Management Service is built to enable new payment experiences as they come online. It also provides a full view of the customer shopping experience, linking customer identifiers to payment cards, setting up exciting possibilities for loyalty and marketing programs.
Powerful new capabilities with Visa Token Service
- Cardholder lifecycle management: With recurring payments and other card-on-file situations, when a customer uses a new payment card, it sometimes can disrupt their experience. Not anymore. With network tokenization, payment cards are updated seamlessly, providing a smooth path for ongoing payment authorizations.
- Detailed view of the customer: Network tokenization opens the door for much more detailed understanding of your customers’ behavior, including purchase behavior across specific devices, improving fraud detection and allowing for increased personalization of marketing and loyalty programs.
- Checkout customization: Cybersource Token Management Service allows merchants to display card art at checkout, at point-of-sale terminals and in online and mobile environments. Showing card art at checkout helps ensure shoppers can view and select the right payment card, which leads to increased purchase conversion rates.
- Banking app integration: With network token integration, Cybersource Token Management Service allows new ways to engage with shoppers via issuers’ mobile banking apps. Customers can connect their cards to merchants of their choice within banking apps, ensuring seamless engagement and easier checkout.
Is your business ready for the tokenization of commerce?
While tokenized transactions currently represent a small portion of the overall transaction landscape, this is set to change drastically in the next few years. This digitization of commerce will help merchants not only secure transactions, but also drive more completed purchases and revenue thanks to better customer insights and enhanced payment experiences.
Cybersource Token Management Service can help you navigate this transition, integrate and aggregate different tokens, and simplify life for your IT team.
Learn more about our Token Management Service and all the ways it can benefit your payment ecosystem, from security to management and customer engagement.