Visa has announced that its payment services in the Asia-Pacific region have surpassed 1 billion tokens and generated a market uplift of over $2 billion in the past year. The Visa Token Service (VST), which was launched in 2014, acts as a link between traditional banking accounts and digital payment services like Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Instead of using the traditional 16-digit credit/debit card number, VST replaces it with a secure numeric token when consumers make purchases. This allows consumers to share their financial information without exposing their private details or banking information. VST operates on VisaNet, the company’s proprietary network that can handle more than 56,000 transaction messages per second.
Tokenized payment methods, like VST, are particularly useful for cross-border payments and international travel, as they eliminate many of the challenges associated with exchanging cash or conducting wire transfers across different currencies. According to a recent study by Visa, 97% of travelers in the Asia-Pacific region prefer to make payments using methods other than cash, resulting in an average spend of $2,525 per trip in 2023.
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 are increasingly seeking international payment methods with low fees and minimal friction when making purchases.
TR Ramachandran, Visa’s head of products and solutions for the Asia-Pacific region, stated in a press release that tokens are paving the way for the future of commerce. Previn Pillay, head of merchant sales and acquiring for Asia Pacific at Visa, encouraged more merchants to adopt tokenized payments, emphasizing that this technology can have a direct impact on their financial performance.
In related news, Visa and Mastercard are expected to play a crucial role in driving the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the coming year.