What is a Token Service Provider?

To increase the security of mobile payments, many payment schemes nowadays apply a technology called tokenization. Tokenization is the process of replacing an existing payment card number with a surrogate value (token). This token is used during a payment transaction, keeping the original card number safe. A Token Service Provider (TSP) is an entity within the payments ecosystem that generates and manages tokens. The TSP maps the original card number with the payment tokens and stores this safely in a token vault. Often these tokens can only be used in a specific domain such as a merchant’s online website or channel, limiting the risk even further. A TSP manages the entire lifecycle of payment credentials including: Token Requestor Authorization Host 1. Tokenization: Replaces the PAN with a payment token. 2. De-tokenization: Converts the token back to the PAN using the token vault. 3. Token vault: Establishes and maintains the payment token to PAN mapping. 4. Domain management: Adds additional security by restricting tokens to be used within specific (retail) channels or domains. 5. Identification and verification: Ensures that the payment token is replacing a PAN that was legitimately used by the token requestor. 6. Clearing and settlement: Ad-hoc de-tokenization during clearing and settlement process. Issuers, acquirers and merchants that wish to offer mobile and/or digital payments to customers can become a TSP. Becoming your own TSP gives full control over the tokenization process: creation, storage, issuance and management. By having your own TSP, you are in full control of digital payments by issuing tokens directly without third party intervention. By using a third party TSP from the payment schemes, issuers need to integrate with each payment scheme. Benefits of having you own TSP: 1. Reduce long term costs: no additional TSP fees from the payment schemes. 2. On-us transactions: save on transaction fees when you are the issuing as well as the acquiring bank. 3. Banks retain their privacy because data and roadmaps do not have to be shared with the schemes. 4. Keep track of customer payment behavior to gain valuable insight and be able to offer personalized services. 5. Expand to multiple use cases. Host Card Emulation Embedded SE Internet: Card-Not-Present Value added services / non-card payments 6. Have your own strategy and be future proof in order to stay competitive. Bell ID® Token Service Provider enables issuers and processors to perform the role of a Token Service Provider. Read less