# Mastercard Credential Services
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-checkout-services/product/mastercard-credential-services/index.md

### Overview {#overview}

Mastercard Credential Services is Mastercard's credential platform that enables issuers and ecosystem partners to securely enroll, manage, discover, and access digital credentials across various digital commerce experiences, such as online checkout, card add, wallet provisioning, money movement, agent pay, and others introduced by Mastercard from time to time. At its core is the Credential Directory, which securely links consumer identifiers such as email addresses and mobile numbers with tokenized payment credentials. Through APIs, Mastercard Credential Services enables ecosystem participants to recognize consumers, retrieve eligible credentials and tokenize them for use without requiring manual entry of sensitive account information. Over time, the platform is designed to support a broader range of credentials, including payment cards, bank accounts, wallets, and digital identities, creating a trusted and interoperable foundation for the future of digital commerce.

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### Benefits {#benefits}

Mastercard Credential Services provides secure, issuer-enabled digital credentials for use across supported digital commerce experiences. When a consumer enters a linked identifier, such as an email address or mobile number, the experience can retrieve the enabled credential without requiring the consumer to manually enter their payment credentials. Network tokenization protects sensitive data and supports strong authentication.
![Scale icon](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/scale.svg "Scale")

###### Scale {#scale}

Provide a single integration by enabling credentials for multiple digital commerce experiences
![Data control icon](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/data-control.svg "Data control")

###### Data control {#data-control}

Issuers maintain control over their consumer information while Mastercard securely stores it
![Finger tapping a phone icon](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/credential-management.svg "Credential management")

###### Centralized credential management {#centralized-credential-management}

Issuers can manage credentials through a single integration and make them available across supported digital commerce experiences
![Checkmark in a shield icon](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/security.svg "Enhanced security")

###### Enhanced security {#enhanced-security}

Replace payment credentials with secure tokens to help reduce fraud and improve approval rates
![Mastercard icon in a rectangle](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/mc-card.svg "Mastercard brand")

###### Brand presence {#brand-presence}

Strengthen issuer brand presence and top‑of‑wallet positioning in digital commerce experiences

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### Use cases {#use-cases}

![Checkmark in a circle](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/auto-enable.svg "Auto-enable")

###### Credential enablement {#credential-enablement}

Issuers can auto-enable eligible credentials individually for newly issued cards or in batches for existing cardholders, making them available across supported digital commerce experiences
![Profile page icon](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/profile.svg "Consumer profile")

###### Credential lifecycle management {#credential-lifecycle-management}

Issuers can update a cardholder's credential after their billing address changes, keeping the information current
![Hand holding a card icon](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/hand-holding-card.svg "Hand holding a card")

###### Credential usage {#credential-usage}

Shoppers can use their email address or mobile number to find an eligible card and check out with Click to Pay without entering card details manually  

**Available today:** Click to Pay supports online checkout.  
**Coming soon:** Card Add will allow consumers to save tokenized credentials with participating services; Money Movement will support transfers using a recipient's email address or mobile number; and Agentic Commerce will allow authorized agents to use tokenized credentials with consumer consent.

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### How it works {#how-it-works}

![Flow showing how a user’s credentials are enrolled in a directory and enabled in digital commerce experiences](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-services/img/product/mastercard-credentials-directory-v2.svg "How it works")

###### Credential providers {#credential-providers}

Issuers, wallet providers, or consumer themselves provide eligible cardholder and payment credential information

###### Integration partners {#integration-partners}

Connect issuer systems to Mastercard Credential Services and perform enablement and lifecycle operations on the issuer's behalf

###### Mastercard Credential Services {#mastercard-credential-services}

Securely stores and manages consumer profiles and payment credentials in the Credential Directory

###### Digital Commerce Experiences {#digital-commerce-experiences}

Allow consumers to discover and use eligible credentials across supported programs without entering payment information manually

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### Why use it {#why-use-it}

Checkout is now moving from manual card entry and passwords to seamless, secure payments in just a few clicks. Mastercard Credential Services makes credentials readily available at checkout, tokenized and securely delivered to the merchant. Because every credential is tokenized, issuers can approve transactions with greater confidence.

### 3-6 percentage points higher approval rate

for tokenized transactions vs. PAN transactions

Mastercard internal data. Benchmarked December 2024 sample of MDES for Merchants customers on CNP first attempt transactions

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### Resources {#resources}

Issuer Enablement for Mastercard Credential Services

Enable and manage credentials and profiles in the issuer credential directory using Mastercard APIs to support digital commerce experiences

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**Used By** Issuers, Digital Wallets, PSPs **Regions** Global **Supports** ![mastercard card](https://developer.mastercard.com/img/card_mastercard.svg)

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### Supported programs {#supported-programs}

Click to Pay

Seamlessly integrate Click to Pay for faster, smarter ecommerce checkouts

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**Used By** Merchants, PSPs, Commerce Platforms **Regions** Global **Supports** ![mastercard card](https://developer.mastercard.com/img/card_mastercard.svg)

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