Card Vaulting Unlocks Multiprocessor Flexibility

Authentication Model

Routing Decision

Decline

Approve

High Risk

Card Vaulting

Pre-Auth Fraud Decision

• No 3DS
• Token Decision
• Card Network Decision
• Processor Decision

Merchant

• Enhanced Authorization
• Major Card Network
• Processor A
• Network Token
• Frictionless 3DS
• Debit
• Processor B
• Card Number
• Frictionless or Challenge 3DS
• Domestic Network
• Processor C

To start, merchants can maximize their payment strategy at the point tokenization, even before a fraud decision is made.

When a customer inputs their card details at checkout, merchants can avoid PCI compliance burdens by sending details directly to a secure, processor agnostic card vault. A processor agnostic vault is key because it unlocks flexibility to route across multiple processors. A comprehensive card vault should offer the following capabilities:

• Secure payments and ease PCI compliance by replacing sensitive data with non-sensitive tokens.
• Update network tokens from card networks to boost revenue and lower interchange fees.
• Provide real-time updates of PANs to prevent declines, increase revenue, and cut costs.

Post-Auth Payments Flow

Customer

Merchant

PSP

Acquiring Bank

Card Network

Issuing Bank

Post-Auth Fraud Decision

The critical points where approvals and conversion can be directly influenced.

Historically, post-auth fraud decisions were preferred, as they gave teams time to manually review the transaction without disrupting the sale. This approach leaves teams reactive, unable to shape the transaction flow to improve approval rates and reduce friction.