Network Tokens

With the aim of greater security and higher approval rates, using tokens for card payments is a highly attractive and beneficial alternative to merchants. By foregoing the use of full PANs (FPANs) in the transaction process, merchants will be PCI compliant and less at risk for data breaches and appropriation of payment details by bad actors. Removing FPANs from the payment ecosystem is a priority medium term goal for all card schemes.

What is a network token?

Network tokens are the result of a card tokenisation process where sensitive FPAN information is replaced with a substituted card number - a digital PAN (DPAN). The DPAN then replaces the FPAN for subsequent payments.

While PXP already offers an internal card tokenisation service (as seen here), the main difference between this and a network token is that the tokenisation process is carried out respectively with the card scheme itself, and as such, conforms to EMVCo tokenisation standards, conferring benefits such as portability between acquirers, and an additional layer of cryptographic security.

In-line tokenisation at PXP

As a Token Service Provider (TSP) PXP currently performs on-behalf of tokenisation for all acquiring merchants, unless specifically opted out. The token information is stored on PXP's system following an initial payment. When the paymentAccountID returned in the initiatePaymentResponse is used for a subsequent payment, PXP will retrieve the token, generate the required cryptogram, and perform the authorisation. There are multiple benefits to this:

• Token updates are performed automatically so that standing orders and recurring agreements will not be interrupted
• Higher approval rates due to a higher level of trust in the authorisation process
• Lower costs per transaction
• Portability between different acquirers, as the tokens are specific to the merchant and tokenising entity
• Ease of integration as PXP is the primary TSP and acquirer

Please contact your account manager or PXP Support for more details.

Support for third-party network tokens

If a merchant already has an existing technical integration with a TSP, then the following must be taken into account.

Perform the standard backend-to-backend initiatePayment request with the following additional considerations.

Acquirer Support Matrix

The table below indicates acquirer support for both types of tokenisation covered in this article.

The above list will be extended over time as support is extended.