[Money20/20 Fireside Chat with Thales] Why tokenization must become core payment infrastructure

At Money20/20, Thales brought together Diane Deng of Forrester, Kyle Reis of Thales, and Cyril Willeman of Thales for a timely discussion on why tokenization is no longer a side capability in payments, but an increasingly central part of modern payment infrastructure. 

The conversation drew on new Forrester research, commissioned by Thales, based on feedback from more than 500 decision-makers across banks, payment providers, and digital players. 

 

 

Kyle Reis set the strategic frame by arguing that payments are changing at three levels at once: consumer expectations, product design, and infrastructure. On the consumer side, choice has shifted decisively toward end users, who now expect simplicity, rewards and seamless digital experiences. On the product side, issuers are moving away from generic offers toward more specialised propositions built around distinct use cases. Underneath both shifts sits infrastructure, where tokenization has evolved far beyond its original role in mobile wallets. Reis noted that more than 40% of transactions now come from tokens, making tokenization too important to remain an adjacent service. 

Diane Deng added the research perspective. Her central finding was that tokenization is widely accepted, but not yet well operationalised. Fraud reduction, stronger authorisation rates, and looming network mandates are driving adoption, yet many issuers still struggle with token lifecycle management and multi-scheme orchestration. A striking maturity gap emerged in the data: while 70% of issuers believe they are mature in tokenization, 40% remain at an early stage on the back-end capabilities required to run tokenization at scale. 

Cyril Willeman reinforced that point with a European market view. Many issuers have enabled straightforward wallet and e-commerce tokenization, but real complexity lies ahead. Fragmented domestic payment networks, new models such as Click to Pay, passkeys and agentic commerce, and the growth of alternative payment rails all demand more sophisticated credential orchestration. In that environment, tokenization must be managed as a connected platform capability rather than a series of isolated fixes. 

The panel’s shared conclusion was clear. The next stage of payments will be token-centric, increasingly automated and more fragmented than today. Issuers that continue treating tokenization as a compliance exercise risk falling behind. Those that treat it as a strategic infrastructure decision, supported by the right governance and hybrid operating model, will be better positioned to scale securely and compete effectively.