Visa has started circulating its network tokens on a global scale through its Visa Token Service. The launch reflects the company’s effort to strengthen its secure digital payment system, according to a press release.
“This historic milestone, which nearly doubled Visa’s token count in one year, surpasses the number of physical Visa cards in circulation worldwide,” a recent press release reveals. “This milestone underscores the powerful security that tokens provide to merchants, issuers and consumers alike.”
Some of the benefits offered by the tokens include minimized fraud and facilitated use across various devices. In total, Visa’s tokens have promoted a 28% reduction in fraud rates and 3% increase in approval rates among more than 8,600 issuers and 800,000 merchants.
“Tokenization is a simple, yet powerful concept pioneered by Visa: Conceal and devalue sensitive payment data to stay ahead of fraudsters and make digital payments more secure,” said Jack Forestell, executive vice president and chief product officer at Visa. “The uptick in issuers, acquirers, merchants and consumers all transacting with Visa tokens, reinforces that the future of money is truly digital, and digital money must be built on trust.”
The program serves as an initiative developed by Visa to promote the innovative method. It correlates with the needs of e-commerce, which has accelerated in recent years, and now reported a growth rate of over 50% since declaration of the pandemic.
“With the convenience of online shopping comes increased consumer expectations and demand for simple and safe transactions,” the press release continues. “Visa is innovating ahead of consumer demand through Visa Token Service, which replaces 16-digit Visa account numbers with a digital token only Visa can unlock, helping to protect the underlying account information from fraudsters and bad actors.”