Storing customer payment data has become harder for merchants in recent years as the number of security requirements keeps growing. For merchants, storing payment information on their own platforms is a burden, as they bear the responsibility for data security. In contrast, for customers, re-entering their payment information every time a purchase is made adds an unnecessary layer of complexity.
Fortunately, merchants can avoid overburdening themselves with data storage without losing potential customers. A credit card vault stores customers’ card data in a secure environment and gives the merchant a token to use instead, so returning customers can pay without re-entering their details.
What is a Credit Card Vault?
A credit card vault is a secure, PCI DSS-compliant storage system that holds customers’ card data – the Primary Account Number (PAN), cardholder’s name and card expiration date – in encrypted form. In return, the merchant receives a randomly generated token, which it stores and uses to charge the card later without holding the card details itself.
This enables customers to make online purchases without having to re-enter their payment information over and over again.
Card vaulting is commonly used by merchants that handle recurring payments and repeat purchases. Its primary goal is to enhance data security and simplify compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
How Credit Card Vaulting Works
Card vaulting works by using encryption and tokenization technologies. A typical vaulting flow looks like this:
- The customer enters card details on the payment gateway’s hosted payment page or hosted fields, not in regular form fields on the merchant’s website.
- After the customer gives permission to store their payment information, the vault encrypts the card data and stores it.
- The vault returns a token to the merchant, which the merchant saves instead of the card details.
- For a repeat or recurring payment, the merchant submits the token.
- The vault matches the token to the stored card data, and the card details are passed on to the acquirer to process the payment.
Encryption converts customer payment information into a secure code that can only be deciphered with a specific decryption key. While encryption itself is a powerful technology, the encrypted payment data can be decrypted and used in malicious acts if the decryption key is compromised. Tokenization, in turn, replaces the card data with a token – a string of random characters that has no mathematical relation to the actual payment information, so it can’t be decrypted. Only the vault can match a token back to the card it represents.
To learn more about tokenization, check out our dedicated article below.
The vault is hosted in a highly secure, PCI-compliant environment protected by multiple layers of security. Access to the vault is restricted to authorized personnel only.
Vaulting vs Tokenization vs Network Tokens
Vaulting is the secure storage of the actual card data. It answers the question of where the card details live.
Tokenization is the substitution of card data with a token that the merchant stores and uses for payments. Tokens issued by a vault or payment provider work only within that provider’s environment unless the stored cards can be exported.
Network tokens are issued by card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard in place of the card number. They are tied to a specific merchant and updated by the scheme when a card is reissued, which helps reduce declines on stored cards.
Benefits of Using a Credit Card Vault
Card vaulting gives merchants and their customers the following benefits:
Increased transaction security
Card data breaches are expensive: data security rules are set by the PCI Security Standards Council, while penalties for breaches are applied by card schemes and passed on to merchants through their acquirers. With the stakes this high, every merchant needs to handle their customers’ payment data responsibly. Vaults use encryption and tokenization technologies to protect customers’ sensitive data during processing and storage.
Reduced scope of PCI DSS compliance
Every merchant that accepts card payments must comply with PCI DSS, and merchants that handle card data directly on their website or application face the widest scope. Validating compliance requires lots of time and resources. While a vault is not mandatory for PCI DSS compliance, it keeps card data out of the merchant’s systems and reduces the complexity of protecting sensitive payment data. In this way, it reduces PCI DSS compliance scope, although it doesn’t remove the need to comply.
Reduced liability
Another significant advantage of card vaulting is that it helps minimize merchants’ liability in the event of a data breach. Since the merchant holds only tokens and the card data is encrypted in the vault, the data remains useless to fraudsters should they gain access to the merchant’s systems.
Streamlined checkout process
Based on 50 different studies on e-commerce cart abandonment statistics, the average abandonment rate is 70.22% (as of Sep 18th, 2026). The latest quantitative study of abandonment reasons conducted by the Baymard Institute found that 17% of users abandon their carts due to a checkout process that is too long and complicated.
With customer payment data tokenized and stored securely in a vault, returning customers won’t need to re-enter their credit card information every time they make a purchase. This removes extra steps during checkout, making it smoother and more convenient for users to finish their purchases.
Simplified recurring payments
Merchants that provide subscription-based goods and services, including streaming and gaming platforms, music and cloud services, can gain a lot from card vaulting. Their customers’ payment data, securely stored in the vault, is used for subscription payments without customers re-entering it, which reduces failed payments and the likelihood of fraud.
How to Store Credit Card Information Securely
The safest card data is card data you don’t hold. In practice, that means collecting card details through a payment gateway, replacing them with tokens at capture, and leaving the actual card data to a PCI DSS-validated vault.
Store Card Data Only When You Need It
Storing card information is only necessary when a merchant supports recurring billing, card-on-file payments or frequent repeat purchases. For one-time purchases, it’s usually more practical not to keep the card data at all than to hold on to it and increase the risk of a data breach. Store payment data only for legitimate business or regulatory reasons: if the risk outweighs the benefit, discard the information.
What You Can and Can’t Store
The agreement merchants sign to open a merchant account requires PCI DSS compliance, and keeping card data safe is a key part of it. When there is a business need, merchants may store the card number, cardholder’s name and expiration date, as long as the card number is rendered unreadable, for example through encryption or tokenization.
Sensitive authentication data must never be stored after authorization, even if it is encrypted:
- the card security code (CVV, CVC);
- full magnetic stripe (track) data;
- the PIN or PIN block.
For more on who PCI DSS applies to and what it requires, see our dedicated guide.
Where to Store Cards: In-House, Payment Platform or Third-Party Vault
Once you decide to vault cards, you need to choose where the vault lives. There are three main options for storing encrypted and tokenized data.
On Your Own Infrastructure
Merchants can set up and manage a vault on their own infrastructure, handling security and compliance aspects in-house. In this case, they’ll have complete control over the data and won’t be dependent on third parties. However, to store customers’ cards in their own vault, merchants must have the resources for the latest security technologies. They also have to be compliant with PCI DSS and other regulations, which can be costly. Another crucial aspect they need to consider is their liability, meaning that responsibility for a data breach or security compromise will fall on them.
With a Payment Platform or Gateway
There’s a simpler alternative for merchants working on third-party payment systems: store customers’ credit card data with a payment software provider. Companies specializing in online payment management are already compliant with PCI DSS. They commonly offer solutions that handle encryption and tokenization on the merchant’s behalf and connect to the merchant’s existing systems through APIs. Although this option restricts flexibility to some extent – tokens issued by one provider usually can’t be used with another – it can be a more manageable solution for merchants, as it requires no development costs and outsources much of the risk and compliance burden to vendors, along with the liability.
Using a Third-Party Credit Card Vault
Another option to store customer payment information is using a third-party vault service. Opting for a third-party vault is a process of entrusting your customers’ payment information to a specialized service that focuses specifically on securely storing and managing payment data. Reputable vault providers are validated against PCI DSS. The stored cards aren’t tied to a single gateway, so merchants can work with several payment providers or switch between them without asking customers to re-enter their card details. The trade-off is an additional vendor to integrate and coordinate with.
Whichever option you choose, check token portability: whether stored cards can move with you when you add or change payment providers.
| Own infrastructure | Payment platform or gateway | Third-party vault | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control over card data | Full | Shared with the provider | Shared with the vault provider |
| PCI DSS scope for the merchant | Widest: the merchant stores and protects card data | Reduced: card data stays with the provider | Reduced: card data stays with the vault provider |
| Development effort | High: build, secure and maintain the vault | Low: API integration, no vault to build | Medium: an extra integration and vendor |
| Token portability | Full, at the cost of building it | Depends on the provider: check whether stored cards can be exported | Independent of any single gateway |
| PCI DSS validation to check | The merchant’s own | The provider’s | The vault provider’s |
Akurateco’s Credit Card Vault Solutions
Akurateco is a white-label software vendor that offers a PCI DSS-compliant payment platform with a built-in credit card vault. Designed with both security and convenience in mind, Akurateco offers a vault that is not dependent on a single payment provider and can be exported on demand. This means saved cards aren’t locked to one gateway or acquirer. PSPs and acquiring banks running the platform can also offer card vaulting to their own merchants.
The platform employs advanced encryption and tokenization features to safeguard cardholder information against unauthorized access. The solution is built to handle growing transaction volumes, so merchants can expand globally without compromising on security.
Akurateco also provides assistance with PCI DSS compliance for clients that require adherence to the standards for their operations. With the platform partnering with Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs), our experts provide detailed guidance throughout the compliance process, from preparing the necessary documentation to achieving PCI DSS certification.
Conclusion
Regulators expect strict protection of card data, and customers expect a fast checkout. In order not to lose customers at the payment stage while maintaining the security of payments at a high level, merchants rely on credit card vaults. Store card data only when you need it, never keep security codes, track data or PINs, and choose the storage option that fits your needs for control, compliance and token portability.
Card Vaulting FAQ
What is the purpose of vaulting?
Card vaulting is a secure method of storing sensitive payment information, such as credit card details, in an encrypted vault to protect it from unauthorized access. It lets merchants securely store customer card data for future transactions, so customers don’t need to re-enter their payment information.
What is a vaulted payment method?
A vaulted payment method is a payment method, such as a credit or debit card, that has been securely stored in a vault by a payment processor or gateway. The card information is encrypted and stored for future use, allowing merchants to process payments without the customer re-entering their payment details each time.
What is a PCI vault?
A PCI vault is a secure, encrypted storage solution used to store sensitive payment data, such as credit card information, in compliance with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). The vault protects cardholder data from unauthorized access by encrypting it and storing it in a controlled, highly secure environment.
What is the difference between tokenization and vaulting?
Tokenization and vaulting work together rather than as alternatives. Vaulting securely stores the actual card data in an encrypted, PCI DSS-compliant environment. Tokenization replaces that card data with a token, which the merchant stores and uses for payments. The token has no value on its own: only the vault can match it back to the card.
Can merchants store customer credit card information?
Yes, if there is a business need, such as recurring billing or card-on-file payments, and the card number is rendered unreadable, for example through encryption or tokenization. Merchants must never store the card security code, full magnetic stripe data or PIN after authorization. Using a PCI DSS-validated vault keeps card data out of the merchant’s own systems.
What happens if a card vault is breached?
If attackers gain access to a merchant’s systems, they find only tokens, which are useless without the vault. Protecting the card data inside the vault is the vault provider’s responsibility: the data is stored encrypted, and the provider must follow PCI DSS security and incident-response requirements. That’s why the provider’s PCI DSS validation matters when choosing a vault.
