PCI Compliance is an enormous responsibility.

Companies who handle payment card data are bound by 12 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards containing roughly 250 requirements in an ever-evolving technology landscape.

Preventing payment card data breaches is another enormous responsibility.

Companies who handle payment card data are holding a treasure trove of data in a landscape of ever-evolving efforts to steal it.

Even if a credit card thief wants to get into your system, and does get into your system, there is nothing to take.

Wouldn’t it be great to just get payment card data out of your hands so you don’t have to worry about it?

That’s where Tokenization comes in. Tokenization removes payment card data from a company’s systems, servers, databases, and environments and replaces it with an essentially worthless token -- a string of random representative numbers.

The token identifies the customer, but the actual payment card data is stored with a third party -- usually a payment card processor like USAePay, who are experts in storing and securing payment card data.

With Tokenization, even if a credit card thief wants to get into your system, and does get into your system, there is nothing to take but the worthless tokens.

Here are some of the advantages of Tokenization:

Removes Sensitive Data – and the Responsibility That Comes With It

Tokenization means you’ll no longer hold sensitive cardholder data, and more importantly you’ll no longer hold many of the responsibilities that come with the data.

PCI Scope is Greatly Reduced

Removing cardholder data greatly reduces greatly reduces PCI scope and the resources that must be devoted to it. Companies who do not store cardholder data face less than half the questions on the mandatory PCI self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ).

Tokenization Saves Time and Money

All of the time and labor that no longer needs to be devoted to PCI compliance represents considerable savings, and the possibility of noncompliance costs, such as fines, is greatly reduced.

Tokenization Makes Your Customers Safer

In the event of a breach, there’s no valuable cardholder data to be had, only meaningless tokens. The third-party payment card processor is holding the actual data and the risk that comes with it.