Dive Brief:

• Visa Checkout will expand the use of token technology to encrypt customer information at the more than 110 merchants that use the online payment system worldwide. 
• Visa Checkout's current partners include leading retail chains such as Gap Inc., Neiman Marcus, and Staples, Inc. 
• Visa says tokens will also be rolled out to banks and financial institutions in the United States, Asia, and Latin America this year in order to protect mobile payments.

Dive Insight:

Starting in April, Visa Inc. is upping its security game by using token technology to encrypt customer information at the more than 110 merchants that use its Visa Checkout online payment service. Visa will expand tokens to financial institutions in the United States, Asia, and Latin America in support of mobile payments later this year.

Visa Checkout stores debit and credit card information, allowing shoppers to provide only a user name and password to make payments online. Since Visa Checkout lets users to make payments without leaving the seller’s site, it can help avoid abandoned shopping carts.

But while token technology helps protect consumer data in transit, critics say that is not as effective against malware at point of sale systems, where Apple Pay’s combination of near-field communication (NFC) and biometric technologies is seen to have an edge.