Definition of a PCI Token

A PCI token is a highly secure, mathematically meaningless alphanumeric string that acts as a digital proxy for a customer's raw credit card number (Primary Account Number, or PAN).

Generated by a payment gateway or secure third-party vault, it allows merchants to process recurring billing or one-click checkouts without storing actual credit card data on their internal servers. Because the token is a random reference pointer and cannot be reverse-engineered, it renders stolen data useless to hackers while drastically reducing a merchant's Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance scope and costs.

Full comparison: Network Tokens vs PCI Tokens