Visa Launches Token Service In APAC

Visa has rolled out its tokenization service in Asia-Pacific.

The company announced yesterday (Dec. 14) that Visa Token Service has launched in the region and that United Overseas Bank (UOB) is the first bank to implement it.

A press release notes that Visa Token Service, in addition to providing the security of replacing payment information with a unique identifier, is also domain-controlled, whereby the tokenized card is linked to a consumer’s phone or wallet application and is validated in real time by Visa’s global payment processing platform, VisaNet.

“We live in a connected world, and with the rise of digitization, it is important the payments industry is focused on delivering a safe, secure, simple and consistent consumer purchasing experience,” T.S. Anil, head of product for Asia-Pacific for Visa, said in the release. “The Visa Token Service can help prevent fraud by offering financial institutions, merchants and third-party payment providers, such as digital wallet providers, a secure way to enable mobile and online payments without sharing sensitive account information.”

The release goes on to share that United Overseas Bank has implemented the Visa Token Service as part of its digital wallet, UOB Mighty.

“Consumers are increasingly attached to their smartphones, which have become an indispensable lifestyle device,” commented Dennis Khoo, head of personal financial services in Singapore for UOB, in the release. “With the Visa Token Service, UOB is able to offer Singapore customers the option of making contactless payments, with tokenized security, through their smartphones at the point of sale, whether it is in a supermarket, coffee shop or at a petrol station.”

Added Anil: “We are proud to partner with UOB to bring the Visa Token Service to their mobile banking app. As the market leader, Visa will continue to innovate and set the standards in payments, and the Visa Token Service is part of an overall digital payments strategy. We intend to roll out the Visa Token Service to additional markets across Asia-Pacific over the coming months.”