API-based transaction network Token has taken its first step out of Silicon Valley, opening an office in London's Canary Wharf to capitalise on opportunities from the forthcoming implementation of the PSD2 directive in Europe.
The startup claims its platform is capable of integrating with a bank's core system APIs and internal policies and procedures thereby providing a shortcut to cryptographically executing PSD2-compliant digital transactions. The company says that multiple trials and POCs are already underway with banks seeking to monetise PSD2 via the new payment rail.
Steve Kirsch, founder and CEO of Token, comments: “Token gives banks full immersion and total control, and they barely need to move a muscle. Other solutions have banks chasing shadows and taking all kinds of risks just to stay in the game. We put banks back in charge and now have serious traction with some of the world’s biggest. We can’t reveal which ones quite yet - we’re working on it - but make no mistake: this is real.”
He says Token’s new payment rail frees banks from the ‘shared secrets’ model of transaction security, where sensitive information like OAuth tokens, account PANs or usernames and passwords are used to authenticate users. Using the Token network, sensitive card or account data never leaves the bank’s systems, masked or otherwise, reducing the bank’s security vulnerabilities.
Token was officially launched at the EBAday event in Milan in June, where Kirsch gave a tub-thumping keynote speech to hundreds of payment heads from banks across Europe.
The firm claims to have raised "millions of dollars" from Google, Facebook and Tesla executives, together with two VC firms: PlugAndPlay Ventures and Digital Currency Group.
The team behind Token consists of bank, payment and security experts from Google, Barclays, Citibank, MIT, Stanford, Amazon, Facebook, McKinsey and BancTec. Token’s CTO, Yobie Benjamin, was formerly the Global CTO at Citigroup.