The modern checkout page has become a proving ground where speed, trust, and data quality determine whether a purchase succeeds or disappears. In short, getting the most value from your payment information is a top priority.
It’s a task specifically designed for coding. For merchants, tokenization is no longer just about protecting sensitive information. It is increasingly used to improve payment performance, maintain customer relationships, and make better use of transaction data.
Doug FrySenior Product Manager at quicklytold PYMNTS that merchants should reconsider how they think about these stored payment credentials.
“When you treat it as just data that you’re obligated to protect, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of storing payment data as a cost of doing business,” Fry said. “Traders should think of it as an asset.”
The asset can be maintained, improved and deployed to generate returns. In payments, these returns often show up as higher authorization rates, fewer checkout experiences and more seamless checkout experiences.
Advertisement: Scroll to continue
The exit is based on better data
Traditionally, merchants measured payment success by whether the transaction reached completion. Today, they are increasingly focusing on why transactions fail and what can be done to improve approval rates.
Frey said the answer often lies in information, not infrastructure.
“When you’re in the payments business, you’re in the data business,” he said.
Network coding demonstrates this principle. Merchant tokens carry information that allows issuers to more confidently identify the company requesting a license. This additional confidence can improve approval decisions while giving merchants clearer insight into reasons why transactions fail.
“The more data you have, the more data you send, and the higher authorization rates you will see,” Fry said.
Recurring payments provide another example of the expanding role of tokenization.
Subscription merchants rely on stored credentials that remain valid over months or years. Expired cards, replacements after fraud events, or account changes can interrupt billing and cause involuntary customer churn.
“If you’re a frequent trader, tokenization is really your lifeblood, and your vault is the lifeblood of your business,” Fry said.
Modern token vaults can combine network tokens with account refresh services to extend the usable life of credentials. In some cases, network tokens continue to operate even when underlying card details are changed, minimizing interruptions without requiring customer action.
The result is that coding serves as an operational safeguard and a retention tool.
Merchant tokens reduce friction
Fraud prevention remains central to the discussion, but Fry said the value of tokenization extends beyond security.
Because network tokens are tied to individual merchants, credentials stolen from one environment have limited value elsewhere. At the same time, tokenization can reduce reliance on customer-facing authentication steps that interrupt the payment process.
“The fact that the network code is specifically linked to the merchant” provides inherent fraud benefits, Fry said.
Networks also expand the amount of information that can travel along with token transactions, allowing issuers to make more informed decisions about risk while maintaining a relatively seamless customer experience.
For merchants, the goal is not just fraud prevention. It balances protection and conversion.
Owning data creates flexibility
Coding also raises questions about ownership.
Fry called for provider-independent token vaults that allow merchants to control payment credentials regardless of gateway relationships.
“When you own your data, you control your destiny,” he added.
This independence can provide routing flexibility, trading leverage, and the ability to optimize service providers as transaction volumes grow. A modest improvement in licensing rates or routing efficiency may have a limited impact on a small dealer but become financially beneficial on a large scale.
The same philosophy applies to compliance.
Maintaining PCI requirements internally becomes more difficult as threats evolve and standards change. Fry said he believes merchants should let specialists manage security while internal teams focus on customer experience and payment performance.
“Offloading that burden to someone who treats security as the core of their business allows you to focus on the performance aspects of egress,” he said.
Therefore, coding occupies a broader role than it did even a few years ago. It remains a security technology, but also supports licensing optimization, recurring revenue, merchant flexibility, and data strategy. As payment becomes more competitive, these functions are increasingly converging.
Watch the full interview with Doug Fry to hear more about:
- Why merchants should view payment credentials as business assets rather than compliance liabilities.
- How merchant network tokens can improve authorization rates while reducing friction at checkout.
- Why control over transaction data and independent token vaults may become more important as payment options expand.
