Network Tokens

IXOPAY Universal Tokens use tokenization to replace sensitive payment card information with a non-sensitive payment token. This prevents companies from storing card information in their own internal systems, thereby reducing PCI scope. Universal Tokens can be used to protect payment information collected via multiple channels (in-person, web, mobile app) and are compatible with any payment processor.

Network Tokens also use tokenization to replace sensitive card data, but these tokens are issued by the card brands (e.g. Visa, Mastercard). Additionally, they are also authenticated by the credit card issuing banks, providing another layer of security. Processors are, therefore, more likely to approve transactions with a Network Token. However, not all issuing banks and payment processors support Network Tokens. With IXOPAY, you can use Universal Tokens as a fallback if Network Tokens are not supported for a transaction.

Network tokens offer promising benefits for businesses, but their broad adoption is still nascent. It is estimated that 80% to 90% of issuing banks in the U.S., Europe, and Australia have adopted network tokenization for at least some of their card programs.

While these adoption rates are growing, pairing network tokens with universal tokens ensures the right token format for the job and creates redundancies for merchant transactions. Not all payment gateways, acquiring banks, or payment service providers have the infrastructure to support network tokenization.

By nesting universal tokens alongside network tokens, merchants get the best of all worlds. They can utilize network tokens for their business while falling back to other token formats. Some firms are using token formats in their routing: if an initial transaction is declined using a network token, an automated retry can be sent using a universal token. Universal tokens remain the dependable mainstay as network tokens continue to mature in the market. Today, using these two technologies together offers a variety of benefits.

Even though all Network Tokens are based on the same EMV Co. specifications, network tokens are specific to each network. Visa network tokens differ from Mastercard tokens. Provisioning network tokens for Mastercard cards is one integration while provisioning network tokens for other card brands involves separate integrations. So, if you ever thought about integrating network tokens on your own (which is not recommended), you may want to take into account the work required. 

Both third-party orchestrators and PSPs can facilitate these integrations and provision your eligible cards with network tokens. However, some providers can only support 1-2 card brands. If you plan on getting the most value, ensure the provider you choose can support network tokenization for all of the major card brands you accept.

Additionally, not all network tokens are the same between payment service providers. A network token provisioned by one PSP may not be portable to another PSP, depending on how it was initially provisioned. In order to migrate network tokens to another provider, you will have to ensure they were created with a unique Token Requester ID (TRID) that is exclusive to your business. This concept is covered in more detail in the next question below.

Yes, IXOPAY network tokens can be used with any payment service provider you choose. However, not every provider offers this feature. 

Many PSPs (and many other payment orchestration platforms) will often not reveal the underlying network token to the merchant, which limits their value and portability. And while convenient, using a PSP can be more costly than using a provider like IXOPAY.

In order to provision network tokens, a customer must do so under what’s called a token requestor ID (or TRID). This is essentially a license from the card networks to provide network tokens. PSPs will generally provision network tokens for customers under a "shared TRID" model, while a platform like IXOPAY will provide a TRID to each customer. 

A shared TRID may mean network tokens are provisioned a few days earlier, but it ties those tokens to the PSP. IXOPAY provides a TRID to each customer and reveals the network tokens to our customers so they can be used across any PSP that accepts network tokens, and a merchant can even carry them to another vault. 

The key is selecting a tokenization service provider who is truly agnostic and will provision tokens on behalf of the merchant using a dedicated TRID. Almost as important is choosing a provider that releases the underlying tokens to customers when requested. Since IXOPAY provisions network tokens using TRIDs assigned to the merchant, merchants benefit from a PSP-agnostic tokenization solution.

IXOPAY’s Account Updater is a separate solution that works directly with the card networks to confirm that credit card details stored in our vault are always up-to-date—ensuring any card-on-file payments are completed without interruption so you can keep recurring revenue flowing and increase customer lifetime value.

Network tokens offer the same functionality using a type of embedded account updater. However, since network tokenization is not widely adopted, not all cards can be provisioned as network tokens. Therefore, it is still a best practice to use an account updater service in combination with IXOPAY’s Universal Token solution to ensure card details are always current and transaction success rates are maximized.