A method and system for secure handling of sensitive sets of characters in a distributed hierarchical system are disclosed, comprising at least one local server on a lower hierarchic level and at least one central server at a higher hierarchic level. The method comprises the steps: receiving a sensitive set of characters in said local server; replacing a part of said sensitive set of characters with a token to form a tokenized set of characters, said token belonging to a subset of possible tokens assigned to the local server by the central server; transferring at least one of said sensitive set of characters and said tokenized set of characters to the central server; and canceling said sensitive set of characters from said local server within a limited time from said transferring, while maintaining said tokenized set of characters in a local database connected to said local server.