AmEx Introduces Bundled Payment Tokenization, Security, and Mobile Services

American Express Co. is now marketing a set of tokenization, security, and mobile payments services under the AmEx Enabled Digital Solutions moniker.

Included in the service is the card brand and acquirer’s digital-wallet platform, near-field communication (NFC) and host card emulation technology, the American Express Token Service, and American Express Checkout.

“We have been heavily engaged as digital payments start to be come mainstream,” Mike Matan, AmEx vice president of network capabilities, tells Digital Transactions News. “We’re focused on enabling our customers to use the payment devices of their choice.”

Clients can use any of the four components of the bundle. This can help them connect and use digital wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay, Matan says. For example, AmEx simplified the commercial terms for issuers, and provides multiple services to minimize the work necessary to develop a digital wallet, Matan says. The service also incorporates AmEx risk-management expertise, he says.

AmEx Enabled Digital Solutions also gives them the tools to incorporate NFC technology or host card emulation, depending on their needs. The token service and American Express Checkout, which enables AmEx cardholders to use their AmEx log-in credentials on e-commerce sites to pay with their AmEx cards, round out the bundle.

The importance of bundling these services, given the growth in mobile payments, tokenization, and efforts to streamline online payments, became more significant following the 2014 launch of Apple Pay, Matan says. As one who says he always thought NFC payments would happen, Matan says the payments industry is “at the point where the industry will gather momentum. It will not just experience growth in mobile payments, but in rapid innovation.”

Another factor is the U.S. migration to the EMV standard for credit and debit cards. Most of the point-of-sale terminals sold in the past few years not only contain an EMV card reader, but contactless payment capability, too, Matan says. “As merchants and their processors get behind the initial EMV migration, we will start to see contactless grow.”

AmEx joins Visa Inc., which announced its Visa Digital Enablement Program this summer, and MasterCard Inc.’s Digital Enablement Service with a bundled approach to digital payments.