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APIs · head to head

Paymentology vs Very Good Security

Paymentology logo

Paymentology

APIs

Cloud issuer processing across emerging and developed markets

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Paymentology paymentology processes but does not hold issuing licences, so every market still needs your own licence or a sponsor bank, which is usually the slowest and most expensive part of a launch.; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: Paymentology covers Global issuer processing, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Paymentology and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where Paymentology and Very Good Security differ
AttributePaymentologyVery Good Security
Starting priceOn request$1000/month
Pricing modelquotePer month
CategoryAPIsCybersecurity

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, API), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Paymentology

  • Global issuer processing
  • Real time transaction data
  • Virtual and physical issuance
  • Tokenisation
  • Multi currency and multi product
  • Card controls
  • Programme management tools
  • Fraud and risk integration

Only in Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Paymentology

  • A neobank launching cards in an African or South East Asian market where hosted United States processors have no certificationnot Very Good Security
  • A mobile money operator adding a card product on top of an existing wallet basenot Very Good Security
  • A bank consolidating several regional card processors onto one platformnot Very Good Security
  • A fintech expanding an existing card programme into the Gulf without re platformingnot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot Paymentology
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Paymentology
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Paymentology
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot Paymentology

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Paymentology

  • Paymentology processes but does not hold issuing licences, so every market still needs your own licence or a sponsor bank, which is usually the slowest and most expensive part of a launch.
  • Fees include per active card charges and monthly minimums, so a portfolio with many dormant cards pays for plastic that generates no interchange.
  • Certification, settlement and scheme relationships differ by country, so a multi market rollout is a series of separate projects rather than one integration.
  • As a processor it sits between your product and the networks, meaning outages and scheme mandate changes reach your cardholders through a party you do not control.
  • Documentation and developer self service are weaker than the United States hosted processors, so early integration depends heavily on Paymentology implementation staff.

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

Paymentology

On request
  • Paymentology processing$undefined/year
    • Quoted per programme and per market
    • Typically per transaction and per active card fees plus a monthly minimum
    • Issuing licence or sponsor bank required in each market and not provided

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose Paymentology if

  • You need global issuer processing.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want real time transaction data.
Paymentology review

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is Paymentology or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. Paymentology starts at On request and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Paymentology or Very Good Security?
Paymentology starts at On request and Very Good Security at $1000/month.
Does Paymentology or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, API, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Paymentology best used for?
Paymentology is most often used for a neobank launching cards in an african or south east asian market where hosted united states processors have no certification, a mobile money operator adding a card product on top of an existing wallet base, a bank consolidating several regional card processors onto one platform, a fintech expanding an existing card programme into the gulf without re platforming. Of those, a neobank launching cards in an african or south east asian market where hosted united states processors have no certification and a mobile money operator adding a card product on top of an existing wallet base are not what Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can Paymentology do that Very Good Security cannot?
Paymentology covers Global issuer processing, Real time transaction data, Virtual and physical issuance, Tokenisation. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Paymentology: Does Paymentology provide the BIN and licence?

No. You need your own issuing licence or a sponsor bank in each market; Paymentology processes the transactions.

Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

Paymentology: What is the actual pricing model?

Per transaction and per active card, with a monthly minimum. Dormant cards still cost, so model your activation rate.

Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

Paymentology: Why choose it over a United States issuer processor?

Network certification and live programmes in markets where those processors do not operate, which decides feasibility rather than preference.

Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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