PCI Proxy

What PCI Proxy does

PCI Proxy is a division of Planet, the Switzerland-based global payments group, and operates as a composable card payment infrastructure platform. Services are technically delivered by Datatrans AG from Zürich under the PCI Proxy brand. Founded in 2001 originally as a full-stack payment gateway, the company unbundled its stack over time into standalone, interoperable modules: Token Vault (PCI-scope-minimizing tokenization and detokenization), 3D Secure (authentication whose result can be shared with any existing PSP), Network Tokens (scheme-issued tokens from Visa and Mastercard that auto-update and lift authorization rates), Payment Gateway (unified orchestration across 25+ card acquirers), and Card Intelligence (BIN Lookup, Account Updater, and Name Verification). The architecture is explicitly designed to sit alongside — not replace — a merchant's existing PSP stack, with each module usable independently or composed together.

The platform targets six verticals via a hybrid go-to-market: self-serve digital onboarding for small businesses (Starter at €350/month) and a direct sales motion with custom pricing and concierge onboarding for Scale (€650/month) and Enterprise tiers (volume tiers, custom integrations, SSO/SAML, multi-year contracts). Revenue combines recurring monthly subscriptions with usage-based fees layered on top for transactions and product consumption, with EUR/USD/GBP pricing and no setup fees or long-term contracts. Named customers span airlines (Air Europa, Dohop), hospitality (Mews, Apaleo), travel tech (RoomBoss), insurtech (Pattern), and short-term rentals (Homerez), with disclosed 2025 scale of 2.8 billion+ tokenizations, 105 million+ 3DS authentications, 400 million+ authorizations, and 800 million+ card insights. As a Planet division, PCI Proxy inherits the parent's 2,500-employee operational footprint across six continents and 8,000+ group customer relationships, while maintaining continuous PCI DSS certification through Datatrans AG.

Name

PCI Proxy

Legal name

Datatrans AG

Website

https://pci-proxy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

PCI Proxy is a Zürich-based division of Planet that provides composable card payment infrastructure — tokenization, 3D Secure, network tokens, payment gateway orchestration, and card intelligence — to merchants in airlines, travel, e-commerce, fintech, entertainment, and SaaS.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Tokenization, Network Vaults & Credential Management (FSAGABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA), Payment Gateways & Orchestration (BPAMAFAA), Virtual Card & Tokenization Schemes (FSAMAAAG)

Keywords

• Payment tokenization services
• PCI DSS compliance
• 3D Secure authentication
• Payment gateway orchestration
• Card network tokens

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription Fees: Monthly subscription fees for Starter (€350/mo) and Scale (€650/mo) tiers, with custom pricing for Enterprise. Subscriptions include access to core or full product suite with concierge onboarding and prioritized support for higher tiers.
2. Usage-based Fees: Variable fees based on transaction volume and product usage. Applied on top of monthly subscriptions depending on the specific products used and volume of transactions processed.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

PCI Proxy provides a composable card payment infrastructure platform offering modular, standalone payment components including Token Vault (tokenization), 3D Secure authentication, Network Tokens from card schemes, Payment Gateway orchestration across 25+ acquirers, and Card Intelligence analytics. The platform is designed to reduce PCI DSS compliance scope while improving authorization rates, fraud prevention, and payment routing for merchants across multiple verticals including airlines, travel, e-commerce, fintech, entertainment, and SaaS.

Product overview

PCI Proxy is a composable card payment infrastructure platform offering standalone, interoperable payment modules that can work independently or together. The core product suite consists of Token Vault (customizable tokenization and de-tokenization), 3D Secure (fraud authentication), Network Tokens (scheme-issued tokens for improved auth rates), Payment Gateway (unified orchestration across 25+ acquirers), and Card Intelligence (token-derived analytics with BIN Lookup, Account Updater, and Name Verification). Every component works independently, integrates with existing PSPs and acquirers, and is designed to reduce PCI DSS scope while optimizing payment performance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Token Vault Customizable tokenization and de-tokenization vault for collecting, storing, and using payment card data while reducing PCI DSS compliance scope. Acts as the secure repository for sensitive card information that can be shared with any PSP.
• 3D Secure 3D Secure authentication solution that enables merchants to run authentication once and propagate the verified result to any PSP they work with, providing fraud protection and liability shift benefits.
• Network Tokens Standalone network token solution that provisions smarter tokens issued directly by card networks (Visa, Mastercard). Tokens automatically update when customer cards change, lift authorization rates, and reduce fraud exposure.
• Payment Gateway Unified payment orchestration integration enabling merchants to connect and route transactions across 25+ card acquirers through a single API, with automated failover capabilities.
• Card Intelligence Analytics suite that transforms tokenized payment data into actionable insights for smarter routing, fraud detection, and card acceptance decisions. Includes BIN Lookup, Account Updater, and Name Verification capabilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced PCI DSS compliance scope to absolute minimum
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• PlanetcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2001PCI Proxy is a division of Planet, a global payments and technology company with over 35 years in business. Planet provides the operational infrastructure and parent company resources enabling PCI Proxy to deliver its composable payment stack services.
• Datatrans AGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDatatrans AG, based in Zurich Switzerland, is the service provider behind PCI Proxy services. The contracting party for all PCI Proxy Service Agreements is Datatrans AG. Services are provided under the PCI Proxy brand but delivered via the Datatrans platform.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Spreedly: Spreedly provides payment orchestration, vaulting, and tokenization that lets merchants route across PSPs and acquirers, with similar composable/standalone API positioning to PCI Proxy for travel, e-commerce, and SaaS merchants.
• Basis Theory: Basis Theory offers a tokenization vault and composable primitives specifically aimed at isolating PCI scope and integrating with multiple PSPs, directly competing with PCI Proxy's Token Vault and composable positioning.
• CellPoint Digital: CellPoint Digital provides payment orchestration and optimization purpose-built for the airline and travel verticals, where PCI Proxy has deepest customer concentration (Air Europa, Dohop), making it a head-to-head competitor in PCI Proxy's primary vertical.
• Primer: Primer offers a payment orchestration platform that sits above PSPs and acquirers with intelligent routing and vaulting, closely aligned with PCI Proxy's orchestration and tokenization stack for merchants seeking stack-agnostic payment infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Stripe provides hosted tokenization (Stripe Elements, network tokens), 3DS, and PaymentIntents across its full-stack payment processing, serving the same merchants PCI Proxy targets with overlapping capabilities, particularly via Stripe Issuing and payment method orchestration.
• Adyen: Adyen operates a global full-stack payment platform with built-in tokenization, network tokenization, and 3DS — directly overlapping PCI Proxy's core capabilities, especially relevant for the airlines, travel, and large e-commerce merchants both companies court.
• Checkout.com: Checkout.com is a global full-stack payment processor offering tokenization, 3DS, and acquirer connections for large merchants including travel and e-commerce, competing head-on with PCI Proxy at the orchestration and authentication layer.

Emerging players

• Marqeta: Marqeta provides modern card issuing and processing infrastructure with tokenization at the network/issuer level; while it focuses on issuing rather than merchant tokenization, it overlaps in adjacent payment-infrastructure competition for fintech customers.
• Hyperswitch: Hyperswitch offers an open-source payments orchestration and vaulting layer that competes with PCI Proxy's composable tokenization and routing approach, particularly attractive to developer-led teams that want PSP-agnostic infrastructure.

Others

• Datatrans (legacy full-stack operations): Datatrans AG is the legal entity actually providing PCI Proxy services in Switzerland; it also historically operated a full-stack Swiss payment gateway, and the relationship illustrates the broader gateway ecosystem in which PCI Proxy's composable stack is positioned.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PCI Proxy