Payments
Network token
A network token is a card-network-issued substitute for a card number that lets a merchant charge a stored credential without holding it, and survives card reissue.
Network tokens raise authorization rates and reduce the maintenance burden of stored credentials, because the token remains valid when the underlying card is renumbered or reissued.
They also bear on platform lock-in. Whether tokens can move between processors is the single fact that determines whether a subscription business can change platforms without asking every active subscriber to re-enter a card — which is where a share of them are lost permanently.
In depth: How to migrate an ecommerce platform