Mastercard Tokenizes Card Credentials For Amazon Shoppers In 12 Countries

Amazon customers in 12 countries across North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe will have their stored credit card credentials tokenized, Mastercard announced Wednesday (June 17).

By replacing a shopper’s card number with a token, payment information is unique to each individual transaction and can be used only by the merchant that requested it, the company said.

The move to tokenization comes amid the rise of eCommerce as consumers save and manage their card details across multiple websites. Amazon and other merchants worldwide use Mastercard’s technology to ensure the cards consumers store on file stay seamlessly up to date, the company said.

Unlike plastic cards, these network tokens don’t expire and as a result, their credentials are automatically updated, eliminating the need to reenter card numbers and eliminate interruptions during checkout, Mastercard said.

“The behavioral shift that we are seeing has accelerated in recent months, but it’s a product of our work to create the infrastructure and partner ecosystem, for the digitally-savvy consumer and forward-thinking businesses like Amazon,” said Jorn Lambert, executive vice president of digital solutions, in a statement. “Mastercard’s work with Amazon and others is a testament to the strength of our well-established digital product suite. We create consumer journeys that improve the shopping experience and boost approval rates.”

The Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) provides the foundation for a frictionless experience, the company said, and eliminates the frustration of managing card information and reducing shopping cart abandonment.

So far, MDES works with more than 2,600 issuers and 1,200 token requestors worldwide as tokenization of a merchant’s cards on file is on the rise.

Amazon is adopting Mastercard tokens in the U.S, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.

Last month, as PYMNTS reported, Visa added 28 partners to its Token Service, added to the 150 token requestor partners that had been included in the platform since it was launched in 2014.

Alan Johnson, vice president of digital solutions at Visa, said the expansion of the service comes as merchants and retailers pivot to embrace eCommerce amid the coronavirus pandemic.