VGS
VGS (Very Good Security) operates a PCI-compliant, processor-agnostic payment tokenization vault with direct integrations to all four major card networks, serving enterprises across eCommerce, financial services, gig economy, gaming, crypto, and agentic commerce with tokenization, network tokens, and AI data firewall solutions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What VGS does
VGS (Very Good Security, Inc.) operates a payment tokenization and data security infrastructure platform that enables businesses to descope from PCI DSS compliance by replacing sensitive payment data, including primary account numbers, bank accounts, and PII, with non-sensitive tokens stored in VGS's vault. The company is incorporated in California, headquartered at 207 Powell Street in San Francisco, and was founded in 2015. VGS serves enterprise and mid-market customers across eCommerce, financial services, gig economy marketplaces, restaurants, gaming and entertainment, crypto, merchant payment enablers, and the emerging agentic commerce vertical, with named customers including Robinhood, Bilt, Albertsons, Texas Capital Bank, SumUp, Rappi, Sprout Social, MoonPay, Zilch, Careem, and Mission Lane.
The core technology stack is built around the VGS Vault, a PCI DSS Level 1 and ISO 27001 certified processor-agnostic vault, supplemented by the Card Management Platform (CMP), a unified API that exposes Network Tokens, Account Updater, Card Attributes, 3DS authentication, Account Validation, Digital Wallet Payments, and Tokenized Account Numbers through a single integration. VGS holds direct certified integrations with all four major card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), positioning it as the only non-PSP neutral vault with this breadth of network connectivity. The platform handles 7 billion tokens globally with 45 billion annual interactions. Newer offerings include the AI Data Firewall, a security layer that detects and tokenizes sensitive data before it reaches AI models, and the Agentic Commerce Hub, which provides Agentic Autofill, Agentic API Pass-Through, and Agentic Network Tokens to enable AI-agent-driven transactions.
VGS operates on a quote-based subscription and usage-based pricing model, with enterprise contracts priced on transaction volume, feature set, and compliance scope. The company claims customers achieve 50-75% cost savings on PCI compliance, reach PCI Level 1 certification in 21 days versus 6-12 months for DIY approaches, gain 1-3% higher authorization rates and 10 basis points lower processing fees through network tokens, and reduce fraud by 30%+. Distribution combines direct enterprise field sales targeting Fortune 500 organizations with API-first self-serve channels (free signup at dashboard.verygoodsecurity.com) and AWS Marketplace co-sell through AWS Financial Services Competency Partner status. The company is privately held and venture-backed by Visa, Andreessen Horowitz, Nyca Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Vertex Ventures, with total disclosed funding of approximately $105 million across five rounds from 2016 through December 2020.
VGS firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- VGS
- Legal name
- Very Good Security, Inc.
- Website
- https://verygoodsecurity.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- VGS (Very Good Security) operates a PCI-compliant, processor-agnostic payment tokenization vault with direct integrations to all four major card networks, serving enterprises across eCommerce, financial services, gig economy, gaming, crypto, and agentic commerce with tokenization, network tokens, and AI data firewall solutions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
VGS industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Tokenization Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Credit Card Issuing (522210)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Virtual Card & Tokenization Schemes (FSAMAAAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH), Virtual Prepaid & Single-Use / Tokenized Cards (FSAMANAJ), Confidential Computing & Hardware-backed Protection (TEE/HSM) (HDADAFAJ)
Keywords
Where VGS is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
VGS business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Subscription / Usage-Based Pricing: VGS operates on a subscription and usage-based pricing model where customers pay for access to the platform's tokenization, vaulting, and network services. Pricing is tailored to customer needs based on transaction volume, feature requirements, and scope of services.
- PCI Compliance Services: Revenue generated from PCI DSS compliance solutions including vault services, tokenization, and compliance acceleration. The company helps businesses achieve PCI Level 1 certification faster and at reduced costs compared to DIY approaches.
- Network Token Services: Income from network token provisioning and management across Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Customers purchase network services from VGS once and use them across all processors.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise subscription with custom pricing based on transaction volume and features |
| Subscription | Annual | PCI Compliance-as-a-Service |
| Subscription | Annual | Card Issuance Solutions |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels11 records
VGS product offering
Product offeringCore offering
VGS (Very Good Security) provides a processor-agnostic, PCI-compliant vault and payment tokenization infrastructure that replaces sensitive payment data (PANs, bank accounts, PII) with secure tokens. The platform connects directly to all four major card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and offers a unified Card Management Platform API along with Network Tokens, Account Updater, AI Data Firewall, Agentic Commerce solutions, and PCI compliance acceleration services.
Product overview
VGS (Very Good Security) is a payment data infrastructure platform offering tokenization and payment security solutions. The core offering is the VGS Vault, a PCI-compliant processor-agnostic data vault, supplemented by the Card Management Platform (CMP) providing a unified API for multiple card services. The product portfolio includes Network Tokens (connected to all four major card networks), Account Updater, Card Attributes/BIN Lookup, 3DS authentication, Account Validation, Digital Wallet Payments, and Tokenized Account Numbers. VGS has expanded into AI-enabled products including the AI Data Firewall for protecting sensitive data in AI workflows, and Agentic Commerce Hub solutions for both AI agents and merchants enabling autonomous payment transactions. Additional offerings cover PCI Compliance Solutions, Payment Orchestration, PII Protection, and Card Issuance services. The platform is designed to help businesses descope from PCI compliance while maintaining data ownership and portability across payment providers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- VGS Vault Processor-agnostic, PCI-compliant secure vault for collecting, protecting, and transmitting sensitive data. Enables businesses to store tokenized data and descope from PCI compliance by never touching raw sensitive information. Includes VGS Collect, VGS Protect, and VGS Transmit capabilities.
- Card Management Platform (CMP)
Quantifiable outcome
- 1-3% Higher Authorization Rates with Network Tokens
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use VGS
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
VGS technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability5 records
Feature9 records
VGS partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and core.
- NeverminedstrategicNevermined launched AI Agent Card Payments through integration with Visa Intelligent Commerce, Coinbase's x402 protocol, and VGS payment infrastructure, enabling AI agents to autonomously purchase digital goods and services using existing card rails.
- VisacoreVGS has direct certified integration with Visa for network tokenization services. VGS is also a preferred pilot partner for the Visa Intelligent Commerce Program, enabling AI agent payment capabilities. Visa is also an investor in VGS.
- MastercardcoreVGS has direct certified integration with Mastercard for network tokenization and account updating services. One of only two card networks with direct VGS integration.
- American ExpresscoreVGS has direct certified integration with American Express for network tokenization services across all major card networks.
- DiscovercoreVGS has direct certified integration with Discover for network tokenization and account updating services, completing all four major card network connections.
- PayOScorePayOS leverages VGS for PCI-compliant, agent-friendly vaulting that enables AI agents to safely initiate payments, billing, and transfers at scale. Partnership enables agents to interact with money as seamlessly as humans do.
- CoinbasestrategicCoinbase's x402 protocol integrated with VGS and Nevermined to enable AI agent payments through authenticated transactions.
- AWScoreVGS achieved AWS Financial Services Competency Partner status, enabling deeper integration and distribution through AWS cloud infrastructure for financial services customers.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
VGS competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Stripe: Stripe is a leading global payments platform offering Stripe Issuing, network tokens, vaulting, and end-to-end payment infrastructure. It is comparable to VGS as both serve enterprises needing tokenization and card management, though Stripe is vertically integrated as a PSP rather than a neutral vault.
- Adyen: Adyen is a global payment processor serving large enterprises with unified commerce, network tokenization, and card processing capabilities. It overlaps with VGS on tokenization and payment data infrastructure for enterprise merchants.
- Checkout.com: Checkout.com is a global payment processor providing unified acquiring, network tokenization, and processing for large enterprises. It competes with VGS for enterprise payment infrastructure spend, though as an integrated PSP rather than a neutral vault.
- Worldpay: Worldpay is a large global payment processor offering acquiring, tokenization, and gateway services for merchants of all sizes. It overlaps with VGS on payment processing infrastructure and network token services for enterprise customers.
Direct peers
- Marqeta: Marqeta is a modern card issuing and processing platform with open APIs, Just-in-Time Funding, and tokenization for prepaid, debit, and credit card programs. It directly competes with VGS in card issuance, tokenization, and program management for fintechs and banks.
- TokenEx: TokenEx is a cloud tokenization and payment data security platform that tokenizes sensitive payment data and reduces PCI scope. It is a direct competitor to VGS Vault and PCI compliance solutions, serving a similar mid-market and enterprise customer base.
- Spreedly: Spreedly provides payment orchestration and vault services that let merchants route transactions across multiple PSPs while storing tokens. It directly overlaps with VGS on payment orchestration, vaulting, and multi-PSP token portability for enterprise merchants.
Emerging players
- Basis Theory: Basis Theory offers a tokenization platform for sensitive payment and PII data, with a focus on flexible, developer-first APIs. It competes with VGS Vault particularly for mid-market and SaaS customers wanting self-serve tokenization without compliance overhead.
- Skyflow: Skyflow is a data privacy vault that tokenizes and protects PII, PHI, and payment data for enterprises. It is comparable to VGS Vault for non-payment sensitive data use cases and AI data protection, overlapping on the PII Protection and AI Data Firewall offerings.
- Plaid: Plaid provides bank account linking, verification, and ACH tokenization infrastructure. It is comparable to VGS's Tokenized Account Numbers (TANs) for bank account tokenization and ACH payments, with both serving fintech and lending use cases.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
VGS social profiles
Digital presenceVGS compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
VGS financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
VGS leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
VGS funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors13 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
VGS M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about VGS
What does VGS do?
VGS (Very Good Security) provides a processor-agnostic, PCI-compliant vault and payment tokenization infrastructure that replaces sensitive payment data (PANs, bank accounts, PII) with secure tokens. The platform connects directly to all four major card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and offers a unified Card Management Platform API along with Network Tokens, Account Updater, AI Data Firewall, Agentic Commerce solutions, and PCI compliance acceleration services.
Is VGS a public or private company?
VGS is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was VGS founded?
VGS was founded in 2015. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is VGS based?
VGS is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does VGS make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription / Usage-Based Pricing is the primary driver. The others are PCI Compliance Services and network Token Services.
Who are VGS's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com and Worldpay. Direct peers are Marqeta, TokenEx and Spreedly. Emerging players are Basis Theory, Skyflow and Plaid.
Does VGS have an API?
Yes. VGS provides a comprehensive API platform enabling developers to integrate payment tokenization, network token management, account updates, card attributes lookup, 3DS authentication, account validation, agentic commerce, and secure vault operations. The platform offers a single API integration for accessing multiple services including Card Management Platform (CMP), Network Tokens, Account Updater, Card Attributes, Account Validation, 3DS, Agentic Commerce, and Vault. Developer documentation is available at docs.verygoodsecurity.com covering all product areas. Developer documentation is at docs.verygoodsecurity.com/cmp.
What industry is VGS in?
VGS's product category is Payment Tokenization Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAAAG, Virtual Card & Tokenization Schemes, with a secondary code of BPAMAFAH, Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms. Its NAICS code is 522320 and its SIC code is 7373.