A card vault is a secure system that stores payment card information on behalf of merchants, payment service providers, and payment platforms. Instead of keeping sensitive card data within their own systems, businesses can store it in a card vault and use tokens to process future payments.
A card vault helps reduce exposure to sensitive cardholder data while supporting payment use cases such as recurring billing, subscriptions, one-click payments, card-on-file transactions, and merchant-initiated transactions.
In most cases, the actual card details are replaced with a unique token that can be safely used for payment processing without revealing the underlying card information.
When a customer enters their card details, the information is securely stored in the card vault, and a token is generated to represent the card. The merchant or payment system can store and use this token for future transactions instead of storing the card number itself. When a payment needs to be processed, the token is matched to the underlying card information within the vault, allowing the transaction to proceed without exposing sensitive card data to the merchant. This process is commonly known as tokenisation.
Card vaults help businesses improve payment security and simplify compliance requirements. Without a vault, merchants that store card data directly may face significantly greater security and compliance responsibilities. By using tokenisation and secure storage mechanisms, businesses can reduce the amount of sensitive payment information handled within their own systems.
Card vaults also support better customer experiences by enabling features such as:
Card vaults and tokenisation are closely related technologies, but they serve different purposes within payment processing.
A card vault securely stores payment card information and maintains the relationship between the original card data and any associated tokens. It allows businesses and payment providers to support recurring payments, card-on-file transactions, and other payment flows that require future access to card details.
Tokenisation is the process of replacing sensitive card data with a unique token. The token can be used for payment processing without exposing the underlying card information, helping reduce the risk associated with storing and transmitting cardholder data.
In simple terms, tokenisation protects sensitive card data by replacing it with a token, while a card vault securely stores the original card information and manages the connection between the card and its token.
