Asia-Pacific Market Witnesses Visa Token Service Serving 1 Billion Tokens

Visa made an announcement on March 26th that its payment services in the Asia-Pacific region have exceeded 1 billion tokens, resulting in a market uplift of over $2 billion in the previous year.
In 2014, Visa launched the Visa Token Service (VST), which acts as a connection between traditional banking account information and digital payment services like Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Essentially, VST replaces the conventional 16-digit credit/debit card number that consumers use to make purchases with a secure numeric token. This enables consumers to share financial information without revealing their private details or banking information.
VST operates on VisaNet, the company’s exclusive network that, according to company records, has the capacity to handle more than 56,000 transaction messages per second.
One of the most common use cases for tokenized payment methods is for cross-border payments and international travel. Exchanging cash or conducting wire transfers across different currencies presents numerous challenges. The use of tokenized assets like cryptocurrency or tokenized payment services such as VST can help avoid many of the complications associated with these transactions.
According to a recent study conducted by Visa, 97% of travelers to the Asia-Pacific region prefer to make payments using methods other than cash. As a result, in 2023, the average trip expenditure amounted to $2,525.
The “tokenization” of traditional assets into digital currencies and payment facilitators has experienced significant growth in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. As travel rebounds and the world recovers, consumers increasingly prioritize international payment methods with low fees and minimal complications when deciding how and where to make purchases.
TR Ramachandran, Visa’s head of products and solutions for the Asia-Pacific region, emphasized in a press release that tokens “set the stage for the future of commerce.”
Furthermore, Previn Pillay, head of merchant sales and acquiring for Asia Pacific at Visa, encouraged more merchants to adopt tokenized payments, stating that this technology can directly impact their revenue and profitability.
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