Payments are fast becoming more digitized as a response to consumer desires for convenience and choice. Tokenization and encryption have emerged as key tools to protect such sensitive information in a cost-effective and secure way.
What is payment tokenization?
Tokenization is a simple process of replacing sensitive data with non-sensitive token data.
The real data is stored in purpose-built secure token “vaults.” The tokenization of payments is the effort to replace sensitive data, such as credit card numbers and PINs, with a unique identifier that can only be authenticated, decrypted and translated by the token provider. Tokenization allows practices and their patients to safely conduct payment transactions while making the essential transaction data of “no cash value” to criminals.
Tokenization is a primary and standard technology to protect cardholder data in a contactless transaction, whether in your practice or online, as well as recurring payments.
How does end-to-end encryption work?
End-to-end encryption uses cryptography to essentially “scramble” data at one end in order to secure it for transit and decoding by the recipient. A third-party provides encryption keys to parties on both ends, allowing far more secure communications than sending raw, unencrypted data.
End-to-end encryption has its roots in the early ‘90s when it was popularized in a program called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and is still in wide use today including popular commercial communication apps like Apple’s iMessage.
Historically, encryption has been the preferred method of protecting sensitive card and payment data. Vast databases of card numbers stored by merchants and service providers have been locked down with encryption keys.
What’s the difference between encryption and tokenization?
Encryption and tokenization are important technologies that are complimentary and are often deployed together as part of layered security approaches. Yet there are a few key differences that are important to keep in mind.
The most important difference between encryption and tokenization is functional: Encryption protects data in motion while tokenization protects data at rest. Encryption is significantly more secure than transmitting raw data, though encryption can be reversed-engineered or accessed by stolen corresponding keys.
Encryption relies on cryptographic algorithms and cryptographic keys to encode data during transit, transit that poses risks as data travels over networks between trusted parties.
Tokenization replaces essential data with tokens, storing the sensitive private data in a vault. Token vaults are far more secure than standard operational systems because they are built for the sole purpose of token storage.
Does using tokenization and encryption help with compliance?
Tokenization can reduce the scope of your systems that fall under PCI DSS, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. All businesses that accept credit and debit cards need to follow these baseline standards. Using tokenization and encryption represent best practices that reduce the time, focus and costs associated with compliance auditing.
Connect with one of your payment experts to learn more about secure payment solutions that can protect your revenue and deliver your patients the variety of payment acceptance forms they prefer.
