# Tokenisation

https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/tokenisation/

*Last updated: 2026-08-03*

Replacing a card number with a substitute value — a token — that stands in for it in a merchant's systems and is useless anywhere else. It is what allows a business to recognise a returning customer, or to charge a saved card, without the card number ever being stored on its side. It is the single largest lever a merchant has on PCI DSS scope.

## Why it matters to a merchant

This is the mechanism behind "we never store card numbers", and it is worth asking your provider to confirm in those terms. If saved cards, subscriptions or one-click repeat purchases are part of your business, the question is not whether you can do them but whether you can do them without card data landing in a system you are then responsible for securing.

## Related terms

*How a payment moves*

- [Authorisation](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/authorisation/)
- [Capture](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/capture/)
- [Settlement](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/settlement/)
- [T+1 settlement](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/t-plus-1/)
- [Batch](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/batch/)
- [Reconciliation](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/reconciliation/)
- [Chargeback](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/chargeback/)
- [Refund vs void](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/refund-void/)
- [Pre-authorisation (hold)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/pre-authorisation/)
- [Issuer decline](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/issuer-decline/)
- [Merchant descriptor](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/merchant-descriptor/)
- [3-D Secure](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/three-d-secure/)
- [Card on file](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/card-on-file/)
- [Payment link](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/payment-link/)
- [ARN (acquirer reference number)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/arn/)
- [Representment](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/representment/)
- [Chargeback ratio](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/chargeback-ratio/)

- [All 74 terms](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/)

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