Mastercard to Phase Out 16-Digit Card Numbers in Europe by 2030

The familiar 16-digit card number may soon be a thing of the past—at least for Mastercard customers in Europe. By 2030, Mastercard plans to replace traditional card numbers with secure, tokenized payment credentials, both for online and in-store purchases.

Instead of manually entering a full Primary Account Number (PAN) during checkout, transactions will be processed through one-click, tokenized flows backed by biometric authentication and other digital security measures. The goal is simple: improve security, streamline checkout, and remove the risks tied to exposed card numbers.

What About Visa?

While Visa isn’t rolling out completely numberless cards, it is pushing issuers toward alternatives to full PAN display, such as:

• Masked or partially hidden card numbers

• Truncated card displays

• Tokenization across payment systems

Visa’s approach leaves room for card issuers to decide how quickly to embrace these changes, but the shift toward more secure, less visible card data is clear across the payments industry.

What This Means for Merchants

For business owners, this transition to tokenized, biometric-secured payments could mean:

• Reduced fraud risk for both online and in-person transactions

• Faster checkout and improved customer experience

• Integration opportunities with advanced payment gateways and security tools

At 2nd Amendment Processing, we’re already helping merchants prepare for the next evolution in payments—ensuring your systems can handle tokenized transactions without disruption.