Tokenized wallet payment
Maya Chen pays Demo Coffee Ltd from a phone wallet. The device presents a network token (a DPAN), not her real card number; Cardnet detokenises it before Bank Alfa authorises. (SYNTHETIC / TRAINING ONLY)
Your notes
The card was already tokenised onto the device
Maya Chen (phone wallet)
Before any purchase, the wallet asked a token requestor to swap Maya's real card number (the PAN) for a device token (a DPAN) tied to this phone. The DPAN lives on the device; the real PAN never does.
Step 1 of 10: The card was already tokenised onto the device
- 01ProcessingThe card was already tokenised onto the deviceMaya Chen (phone wallet)
- 05ProcessingCardnet checks the token domain and detokenisesCardnet (card network)
- 08SettlementThe purchase settles in the card cycleBank Alfa (issuer) → Meridian Bank (acquirer)
- 09PostingBank Alfa posts the debit to Maya's real accountBank Alfa (issuer)
- 10PostingMeridian Bank pays out to Demo CoffeeMeridian Bank (acquirer)
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
- 01ProcessingThe card was already tokenised onto the deviceMaya Chen (phone wallet)
Before any purchase, the wallet asked a token requestor to swap Maya's real card number (the PAN) for a device token (a DPAN) tied to this phone. The DPAN lives on the device; the real PAN never does.
- 05ProcessingCardnet checks the token domain and detokenisesCardnet (card network)
The network verifies the cryptogram and confirms the DPAN is being used within its allowed domain — this device, this kind of transaction — then maps the DPAN back to the real PAN so the right issuer can be reached.
- 08SettlementThe purchase settles in the card cycleBank Alfa (issuer) → Meridian Bank (acquirer)
In the daily clearing and settlement cycle the approved purchase settles between Bank Alfa and Meridian Bank in central bank money. Only now does money actually move between the two banks.
- DR Bank Alfa settlement account — EUR 42.50
- CR Meridian Bank settlement account — EUR 42.50
- 09PostingBank Alfa posts the debit to Maya's real accountBank Alfa (issuer)
The issuer books the EUR 42.50 debit against Maya's real card account — the account behind the DPAN. Her statement shows the purchase against the real card, not the device token.
- DR Maya Chen's card account at Bank Alfa — EUR 42.50
- 10PostingMeridian Bank pays out to Demo CoffeeMeridian Bank (acquirer)
The acquirer credits Demo Coffee's merchant account for the sale, net of fees. The payment is complete end to end: token presented, detokenised, authorised, settled, and both sides posted.
- CR Demo Coffee merchant account at Meridian Bank — EUR 42.50
What this simplifies: A pass-through wallet where the device token stands in for the card. Real tokenisation adds a token service provider, provisioning identity checks, and per-scheme domain rules. Cardnet is fictional; the amount is illustrative.
Sources for this flow3
- Official requirement
PSD2 and the RTS on strong customer authentication and secure communication ↗ — European Banking Authority · RTS on SCA — on-device authentication
Referenced from the European Banking Authority's public summaries, guidelines, and technical standards on payment services.
- Market practiceMarch 2003 edition
A glossary of terms used in payments and settlement systems ↗ — CPSS (now CPMI), Bank for International Settlements
Terminology has evolved since this edition; newer CPMI publications refine some definitions.
- Simplified educational illustration
Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal
What this simplifies: One wallet, one acquirer, one issuer; dual-message processing. Wallet-provider agreements, staged-wallet funding, provisioning identity checks and per-scheme token rules are omitted; Cardnet is fictional and the amount is illustrative.
Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.