Mastercard and Visa launched network-side tokenization, not issuer-side tokenization. And yes, it used a Mastercard PayPass applet, as does network-side tokeni

Mastercard and Visa launched network-side tokenization, not issuer-side tokenization. And yes, it used a Mastercard PayPass applet, as does network-side tokenization. When it comes down to it, tokens are just credit cards that have a mapping back to an account. The network-side tokenization spec includes additional measures for provisioning and security, but they're still just credit cards. (If that weren't true, then all of the merchants would require terminal upgrades to work with them). In issuer-side tokenization, it's the issuer (the user's bank/cc company) that creates the token, and they map it to accounts internally. In network-side tokenization, it's the network (MC, Visa, etc.) that handles the token creation, and they map it back to the previously issued credit card before the charge goes back to the issuer.