Axerve expands its existing proprietary eCommerce tokenization offering

By Joy Dumasia

Axerve, payment partner to Grow, specialising in creating accessible and frictionless payment solutions for eCommerce and physical sales, announces that it will expand its existing proprietary Ecommerce tokenisation offering to include the Network Tokens recently provided by circuits such as Visa and Mastercard and welcomes Chili, an international tech media and video on demand (VoD) firm, as one of the first companies to be activated on Network tokenisation. 

Tokenisation positively impacts the security and shopping experience offered to customers in eCommerce transactions. Tokenisation allows merchants to retain payment credentials without having to obtain a full Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification. This means that by leveraging tokenisation, merchants and retailers can store tokens to complete future payment transactions. This is particularly relevant for one-click and MIT payments (Merchant Initiated Transactions), where the merchant initiates payment without the real-time presence of the buyer, such as automatic billing. 

There are two categories of tokens: those offered directly by the payment service provider (PSP) and ‘Network Tokens’ introduced more recently by circuits such as Visa and Mastercard. As a PSP, Axerve has offered a private solution for tokenisation since 2012. This solution shifts the compliance obligations from card privacy rules away from the merchant and onto Axerve, which stores card PAN (Primary Account Number) data and gives the merchant a token. This token is then stored by the merchant for each new transaction performed on that card, allowing the end customer to experience a seamless payment process without privacy compliance costs unduly falling on the merchant. 

Network Tokens can combat payment friction that emerges over the lifecycle of a card, such as at the point of card expiry or card loss and replacement. Network Tokens automatically update tokens in line with the data of the underlying card without the need to involve the buyer. 

Axerve is a part of the European FinTech Fabrick’s open finance ecosystem, and beyond this, the Company supports a diverse mix of institutions, international corporations, and retail chains by offering innovative technology and data security across global payment methods. 

Alessandro Bocca, CEO of Axerve, commented: “Tokens are now more important than ever in the eCommerce environment. They have the twin benefits of improved user experience and safety, the latter, in turn, supports increased authorisation rates. Axerve’s inclusion of tokens and Network Tokens can contribute to a further increase in authentication and payment approval rates, as they have been developed according to international standard principles. 

Network Tokens are well placed to withstand card lifecycle events such as expired or defrauded cards, which to date have interfered with straightforward payments and caused friction. 

We are delighted to provide our customers with tokenisation tools to create seamless experiences for end-consumers, who are freed from the need to enter the card details again from the second purchase onwards, while also effectively protecting their customer data from being compromised.” 

Giorgio Tacchia, Founder and CEO of CHILI, said: “Payments with fewer barriers result in higher conversion rates for our billing and also creates happier customers who don’t have to face undue hassle at checkout. Tokens remove a layer of complexity from our day-to-day operations and make our customer payments friction-free, meaning we at Chili can focus on our core business.”