Are network tokens mandatory?
Increasingly. Since 1 October 2025, Visa charges European acquirers a 0.075% integrity fee on stored-credential transactions without a network token or EMV 3-D Secure, and the UAE requires tokens for stored credentials from 18 April 2026. Mastercard targets 100% e-commerce tokenization in Europe by 2030.
In detail
Increasingly. Since 1 October 2025, Visa charges European acquirers a 0.075% integrity fee on stored-credential transactions without a network token or EMV 3-D Secure, and the UAE requires tokens for stored credentials from 18 April 2026. Mastercard targets 100% e-commerce tokenization in Europe by 2030.
Mandates on stored credentials
Under Visa’s Secure Credential Framework, acquirers in Europe must ensure merchants can tokenize stored credentials, and an Acquirer SCF Integrity Fee of 0.075% applies since 1 October 2025 to credential-on-file traffic that is neither tokenized nor authenticated, with card payouts and MOTO exempt. In the UAE, Visa requires stored credential transactions to be processed with network tokens from April 18, 2026, with a 0.05% PAN Integrity Fee from 17 October 2026.
Incentives and targets elsewhere
In the US, Visa’s Digital Commerce Authentication Program, effective 18 April 2026, pays a 5 basis-point incentive for token-only transactions and 10 for tokenized transactions with enhanced data, against a 5 basis-point program fee. Mastercard Europe’s 2030 target, no manual card entry at checkout, combines tokens with Click to Pay and payment passkeys. In Europe and the UAE, the question is now closed by the rulebook.
More detail in our #PayDecoding episode on Network tokens.