US-based data privacy vault company Skyflow has expanded its collaboration with Visa , to tokenize cards directly with Visa and other major card brands. According to the company press release, by leveraging Token ID - a Visa Solution, Skyflow is making it easier for merchants, payment facilitators and payment gateways to get started with network tokenization.

The process builds on Skyflow’s existing collaboration with Visa, including participation in Visa Fintech Partner Connect, which helps connect Visa’s clients to fintech providers. Visa officials explained that network tokenization has the ability to help improve security for online merchants. More particularly, network tokens can help reduce card-not-present fraud and can help keep card-on-file information updated, which improves the customer experience.

How Skyflow network tokens work in the card provisioning flow With Skyflow, customers can implement network tokenization without the complexity of integrating with multiple card network providers. PCI data isn’t handled directly, and they get to remove other systems from PCI scope. The card provisioning flow starts with the merchant makeing a single API call, and sending card information to Skyflow directly from their application.

Next, Skyflow gets the network token from Visa, which is safely stored in a Skyflow data privacy vault. This way, the card information never touches the merchant’s backend systems. When it’s time for a card to be charged, the merchant sends transaction details to Skyflow.

Skyflow then retrieves a unique transaction cryptogram through Token ID and sends that alongside the network token to the processor to carry out the transaction. More on the Fintech Data Privacy Vault Skyflow’s Fintech Data Privacy Vault helps organisations securely handle payment data to reduce PCI burden, collect and store customer PII data, run workflows and integrate with third-party services—all without breaking privacy. Skyflow makes prioritizing data privacy easy so that customers can ship products faster and focus on their core business.

Ecommerce tokenization as a primary use-case for network tokens According to The Fintech Times, tokenisation technology essentially allows merchants to retain payment credentials without having to obtain a full Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification. While PCI DSS security standards, established in 2004 by circuits such as Visa and Mastercard, have helped secure credit and debit card transactions against data theft and fraud, merchants have to safely store sensitive card data during transactions and for recurring payments. In this sense, tokenisation can help maintain security via the numeric or alphanumeric tokenisation of card data, streamlining the process for the merchant.

.