Cashfree Token Vault

Cashfree Token Vault replaces sensitive card details with cryptographically generated tokens for merchants processing saved-card payments. It best suits businesses using Cashfree checkout or integrating its API. Its main appeal is keeping card numbers off merchant platforms; its main constraint is that Cashfree retains the token reference.

Overview

Cashfree presents Token Vault as interoperable across payment gateways and card networks through a single integration. That can suit merchants seeking to support saved-card payments across payment routes, but it does not make the Cashfree-created token reference portable: merchants can fetch a card network token for use with another payment aggregator, while the reference itself remains with Cashfree.

Customers can select a saved card and pay by entering its CVV. Cashfree says its ecosystem includes more than 16 million saved cards; that does not establish how many are available to any individual merchant.

Key features

• Card coverage: Credit, debit, prepaid, and corporate cards are supported, with Visa and Mastercard credit and debit tokenization specifically described. This range suits merchants handling both consumer and business payments.
• Consent and authentication: Customers must explicitly consent to token provisioning, and provisioning cannot proceed if two-factor authentication fails. This makes authorization a prerequisite rather than a merchant-side shortcut.
• Restricted card data: Merchants may keep only the last four digits, scheme, and issuing bank name; BIN, expiry, and CVV cannot be stored. Merchants also cannot recover the actual card number from a token; only card schemes and issuing banks can retrieve it. This limits exposure on merchant platforms, while ruling out workflows that depend on retaining those card details.
• Checkout paths: Standard Checkout enables saved-card tokenization automatically. Seamless Pro merchants need to integrate or update APIs, so the latter path requires more implementation work.
• Network tokenization and hosting: Token Vault supports network tokenization and is vendor-hosted in the cloud. It does not provide a detokenization API.
• Bulk migration: RBI rules do not allow bulk tokenization of cards already saved by PCI/DSS-compliant merchants; those saved cards must be deleted. That makes existing card-on-file data a migration constraint, not a batch onboarding opportunity.
• Integrations: Cashfree lists Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, PayPal, WordPress, and Zoho among its integrations.

Cashfree presents Token Vault as supporting RBI compliance and says merchants cannot store card numbers on their servers under the described guidelines. Its privacy page names ISO/IEC 27001:2022, PCI-DSS v4.0.1, and SOC 2 among company security standards and certifications. Support options include a Support Center, Customer Query Resolution, a bank downtime detector, and a Discord community.

Pricing

Token Vault is a paid product with custom pricing. There is no stated free plan or free trial, so merchants need to request pricing rather than compare a published entry-level fee or test period.

Platforms

Token Vault supports Android, iOS, web, and API use. The cloud deployment model suits merchants integrating a hosted vendor service; it is not a self-hosted vault.

Who it's for

Token Vault is a fit for merchants that want saved-card processing while limiting the card data retained on their own platforms, especially those already using Standard Checkout or willing to implement the Seamless Pro API path. It is less suitable for merchants who need to keep token references portable between providers, bulk-tokenize existing compliant card stores, or retrieve card numbers through an API.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Broad card categories: Credit, debit, prepaid, and corporate cards cover varied payment needs.
• Lower merchant-side card exposure: Only limited card metadata may be retained, and merchants cannot retrieve the card number from a token.
• Two checkout paths: Standard Checkout enables saved cards automatically, while Seamless Pro has an API integration route.

Cons

• Cashfree-bound reference: The token reference remains with Cashfree, which constrains portability even though card network tokens can be fetched for another aggregator.
• Existing-card migration barrier: Bulk tokenization of cards already saved by PCI/DSS-compliant merchants is disallowed under the stated RBI rules, and those cards must be deleted.
• Custom pricing: Without a published price or trial, cost and evaluation require a direct pricing request.
• No detokenization API: Merchants cannot build workflows around retrieving the underlying card number from the vault.

Alternatives

Payment Tokenization Software is the broader category to browse when comparing tokenization products.

• American Express Token Service is worth considering for readers who want a free service with no stated deployment or use fees; availability varies by market.
• Hyperswitch Card Vault suits teams seeking a free, self-hosted community edition with 90+ payment integrations, provided they are prepared to manage compliance end to end.
• Basis Theory is an alternative for teams that can budget for a published platform fee of $995 a month, including 20,000 tokens and charging $0.05 per additional token.
• FIS Data Integrity Manager is another paid, web-based option.
• Paysafe may suit Shopify merchants considering its Standard (US/CAD) plan, which has no setup or monthly fee but applies a transaction fee.
• Purse Vault is an alternative for readers willing to request a demo.
• Razorpay TokenHQ is worth comparing for merchants using Razorpay; its article mentions zero added cost for standard and custom checkout, while also referring to an unstated S2S saved-card transaction fee.
• Very Good Security may fit teams seeking a free starting option or a Starter Package priced at $1,000 a month.

Verdict

Choose Cashfree Token Vault if your priority is saved-card processing with restricted merchant-side card storage and you can work within Cashfree's checkout or API setup. Its strongest case is the combination of card coverage and controls over stored card data. Look elsewhere if portable token references, bulk migration of existing saved cards, a detokenization API, or upfront pricing are essential.