Visa Issues 4 Billion Tokens, Surpassing Its Physical Cards In Circulation

Visa launched the VTS in 2014 and issued 1 billion tokens by 2020. The number of tokens issued hit the 2 billion mark in 2021 and doubled this year.

Payment giant Visa Inc has announced that its tokens have surpassed the number of physical cards in circulation. The company has issued more than 4 billion network tokens worldwide through its Visa Token Service (VTS). 

The VTS replaces the 16-digit account number with a token that can be unlocked only by Visa. This method provides protection against fraudsters by securing the underlying information.

“Tokenization is a simple, yet powerful concept pioneered by Visa: conceal and devalue sensitive payment data to stay ahead of fraudsters and make digital payments more secure,” said Jack Forestell, executive vice president and chief product officer at Visa in a press release. 

Forestell added that the increase in the use of Visa tokens by consumers and merchants “reinforces that the future of money is truly digital, and digital money must be built on trust.”