Payment tokenization substitutes a sensitive card number or account credential with a generated token. The token can be scoped to a merchant, amount, currency, expiry, transaction type, or other conditions, reducing exposure of the underlying credential.
For agent purchases, tokenization lets a payment provider hold the sensitive credential while the agent handles only a bounded capability. The token still needs secure storage, authorization, monitoring, revocation, and confirmation rules appropriate to the transaction.
ELI5
Payment tokenization gives software a limited substitute for a customer's real card or account details. If the token is exposed, its restrictions can make it much less useful than the original credential.
For example, a customer can give a shopping agent a token that expires soon and works only for one purchase under 200 euros. The agent can complete that approved order without ever seeing the raw card number.
