Tokenisation at the Heart of the Digital Economy’s Transformation
Digital commerce is entering a new phase defined by intelligence, automation, and trust. This shift represents not just an evolution of technology, but a fundamental redefinition of trust, choice, and value in a global digital marketplace.
Network (EMV)¹ tokenisation has quickly become established as a foundation for new models of digital commerce — delivering more frictionless customer experiences, unlocking new business models, and enabling deeper customer relationships. At Visa Consulting & Analytics, we see tokenisation not simply as a way to reduce cost or mitigate risk, but as a strategic enabler that supports interoperability across platforms, richer data insights, and greater control for both merchants and consumers.
With their built-in capabilities, network tokens play an invaluable role in preparing businesses for emerging commerce models, including agentic commerce.
What Is Tokenisation?
Tokenisation is the process of replacing sensitive data with a non-sensitive substitute, known as a token, to protect it. Payment tokenisation replaces the 16-digit primary account number (PAN) with a randomised token, protected by dynamically generated cryptograms that can be updated or disabled at any time.
Network tokens are different. They replace the PAN throughout the entire transaction flow — from merchant to payment service provider to card network — and are not tied to a single processor. This means they work across the payments ecosystem, giving merchants greater flexibility, choice, and resilience.
More than a secure replacement for card data, network tokens are programmable payment credentials. They can reflect consumer preferences, carry permissions and rules, and support tailored, seamless payment experiences. This is more than security. It’s more than convenience. It’s a paradigm shift.
The Three Critical Levels of Tokenisation
Network tokenisation is not just a technical upgrade — it enables transformation, unlocking value across three critical levels:
1. Operational Excellence
At its most immediate level, tokenisation improves day-to-day performance by increasing approval rates, reducing fraud losses, improving lifecycle management, and removing friction at checkout. This can lead to smoother customer journeys, lower operational costs, and stronger loyalty and lifetime value.
2. Tactical Expansion
Beyond efficiency, tokenisation enables merchants to pursue new commercial models and extend customer relationships. It creates a pathway to convert anonymous wallet users into registered customers, supports frictionless one-click experiences, and enables multi-merchant and multi-service environments that expand reach and relevance.
3. Strategic Evolution
At the strategic level, tokenisation can provide interoperability, programmability, and real-time control. Equipped with network tokens, merchants can participate in marketplaces, embedded payment ecosystems, and future AI-driven commerce models.
How Visa Consulting & Analytics can help
With deep payments expertise and proprietary analytics models, our consultants, data scientists and economists are committed to delivering insights that drive better business outcomes for our clients. And with our dedicated merchant practice, we are here to help merchants unlock growth and operational excellence by leveraging Visa’s unmatched global payments expertise and transaction data. Our team delivers end-to-end support – from designing innovative acceptance strategies and loyalty programs to optimising checkout experiences and
providing data insights for operational improvements and better-informed strategic planning.
Through strategic decision making, data-driven insights, and tailored solutions, we help merchants enhance customer engagement, streamline operations, and capture new opportunities in an evolving payments landscape. Ultimately, we believe that, for any merchant, payment should be a lever for value creation.
Sources
- Network tokens are also referred to as EMV payment tokens. EMVCo defines the Technical Framework to generate, deploy and manage Payment Tokens in a reliable and interoperable manner globally at the point of acceptance. The aim is to provide a level of commonality across the payment ecosystem to support adoptionwhile enabling levels of differentiation that promote innovation
- VisaNet data: Visa Token Card-Not-Present transactions approval rate as of Mar 2024 in Europe: https://www.visaacceptance.com/en-gb/solutions/credentials-in-acceptance.html
- VisaNet Data, Global, YoY comparison between FY19 Q4 and FY20 Q4 share of token vs non-token PV for merchants with average 1k CNP token transactions per month: https://www.visaacceptance.com/en-gb/solutions/payment-services/token-management-service.html
- Baymard Institute, Reasons for Cart Abandonment – Why 70% of Users Abandon Their Cart, 2025: https://baymard.com/blog/ecommerce-checkout-usability-report-and-benchmark
Disclaimers
The projections and growth estimates contained in this document are based on historical data, current market trends, and a variety of assumptions. These projections are intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as guarantees of future performance. While we strive to provide accurate and realistic forecasts, numerous factors, including but not limited to market volatility, economic changes, and unforeseen circumstances, can influence actual outcomes. Consequently, there is no assurance that the clients will achieve the projected growth levels. We recommend that clients consider these projections as one of many tools in their decision-making process and consult with Visa Consulting and Analytics for personalised advice.
Case studies, comparisons, statistics, research and recommendations are provided “AS IS” and intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for operational, marketing, legal, technical, tax, financial or other advice. Visa Inc. neither makes any warranty or representation as to the completeness or accuracy of the information within this document, nor assumes any liability or responsibility that may result from reliance on such information. The information contained herein is not intended as investment or legal advice, and readers are encouraged to seek the advice of a competent professional where such advice is required. When implementing any new strategy or practice, you should consult with your legal counsel to determine what laws and regulations may apply to your specific circumstances. The actual costs, savings and benefits of any recommendations, programs or “best practices” may vary based upon your specific business needs and program requirements. By their nature, recommendations are not guarantees of future performance or results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict or quantify. All brand names, logos and/or trademarks are the property of their respective owners, are used for identification purposes only, and do not necessarily imply product endorsement or affiliation with Visa.
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