diff --git a/config/default.yml b/config/default.yml
index 3964a7ec5..a1b7a5352 100644
--- a/config/default.yml
+++ b/config/default.yml
@@ -58,9 +58,7 @@ gatekeeper:
     - header
     - getParam
     - basicAuthUsername
-  api_key_cache: false
-  pep_host: 127.0.0.1 # ip or hostname of Pep Proxy host
-  pep_port: 8090 # listen port of Pep Proxy
+  api_key_cache: true
 trafficserver:
   host: 127.0.0.1
   port: 14009
@@ -284,12 +282,12 @@ apiSettings:
       message: The requested URL was not found on this server.
     api_key_missing:
       status_code: 403
-      code: API_KEY_OR_TOKEN_MISSING
-      message: No api_key or token was supplied. Get one at {{signup_url}}
+      code: API_KEY_MISSING
+      message: No api_key was supplied. Get one at {{signup_url}}
     api_key_invalid:
       status_code: 403
-      code: API_KEY_OR_TOKEN_INVALID
-      message: An invalid api_key or token was supplied. Get one at {{signup_url}}
+      code: API_KEY_INVALID
+      message: An invalid api_key was supplied. Get one at {{signup_url}}
     api_key_disabled:
       status_code: 403
       code: API_KEY_DISABLED
@@ -300,8 +298,8 @@ apiSettings:
       message: The api_key supplied has not been verified yet. Please check your e-mail to verify the API key. Contact us at {{contact_url}} for assistance
     api_key_unauthorized:
       status_code: 403
-      code: API_KEY_OR_TOKEN_UNAUTHORIZED
-      message: The api_key or token supplied is not authorized to access the given service. Contact us at {{contact_url}} for assistance
+      code: API_KEY_UNAUTHORIZED
+      message: The api_key supplied is not authorized to access the given service. Contact us at {{contact_url}} for assistance
     over_rate_limit:
       status_code: 429
       code: OVER_RATE_LIMIT
@@ -370,4 +368,4 @@ ban:
     message: "Please contact us for assistance."
 ember_server:
   port: 14050
-live_reload_port: 14051
\ No newline at end of file
+  live_reload_port: 14051
diff --git a/src/api-umbrella/proxy/hooks/rewrite.lua b/src/api-umbrella/proxy/hooks/rewrite.lua
index d238ea134..af0a2268f 100644
--- a/src/api-umbrella/proxy/hooks/rewrite.lua
+++ b/src/api-umbrella/proxy/hooks/rewrite.lua
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ wait_for_setup()
 -- ngx.var lookups are apparently somewhat expensive.
 ngx.ctx.args = ngx_var.args
 ngx.ctx.arg_api_key = ngx_var.arg_api_key
-ngx.ctx.arg_token = ngx_var.arg_token
 if(config["router"]["match_x_forwarded_host"]) then
   ngx.ctx.host = ngx_var.http_x_forwarded_host or ngx_var.http_host or ngx_var.host
 else
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@ else
 end
 ngx.ctx.host_normalized = host_normalize(ngx.ctx.host)
 ngx.ctx.http_x_api_key = ngx_var.http_x_api_key
-ngx.ctx.http_x_auth_token = ngx_var.http_x_auth_token
 ngx.ctx.port = ngx_var.real_port
 ngx.ctx.protocol = ngx_var.real_scheme
 ngx.ctx.remote_addr = ngx_var.remote_addr
@@ -71,4 +69,4 @@ else
   else
     error_handler(api_err)
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/src/api-umbrella/proxy/middleware/api_key_validator.lua b/src/api-umbrella/proxy/middleware/api_key_validator.lua
index 5c6e691b1..ab1447b32 100644
--- a/src/api-umbrella/proxy/middleware/api_key_validator.lua
+++ b/src/api-umbrella/proxy/middleware/api_key_validator.lua
@@ -6,47 +6,32 @@ local is_empty = types.is_empty
 
 local function resolve_api_key()
   local api_key_methods = config["gatekeeper"]["api_key_methods"]
-  local key = {key_value="", key_type="" }
+  local api_key
 
-  -- The api_key variable is a dictionary compose by two elements, the key_value which stores
-  -- the api_key value or the user token value and the key_type field in where is stored
-  -- the type of key that was provided by the user, it value could be an api_key or a token.
-  -- The validation process is made for all the api_key_methods (except basicAuthUsername)
-  -- declared in the configuration file checking if the user sends an api_key or token
-  -- Only the header and get_param methods are supported by the token validation.
   for _, method in ipairs(api_key_methods) do
-    if method == "header" and ngx.ctx.http_x_api_key then
-      key.key_value = ngx.ctx.http_x_api_key
-      key.key_type = "api_key"
-    elseif ngx.ctx.http_x_auth_token then
-      key.key_value = ngx.ctx.http_x_auth_token
-      key.key_type = "token"
-    elseif method == "getParam" and ngx.ctx.arg_api_key then
-      key.key_value = ngx.ctx.arg_api_key
-      key.key_type = "api_key"
-    elseif ngx.ctx.arg_token then
-      key.key_value = ngx.ctx.arg_token
-      key.key_type = "token"
-    elseif method == "basicAuthUsername" and ngx.ctx.remote_user then
-      key.key_value = ngx.ctx.remote_user
-      key.key_type = "api_key"
+    if method == "header" then
+      api_key = ngx.ctx.http_x_api_key
+    elseif method == "getParam" then
+      api_key = ngx.ctx.arg_api_key
+    elseif method == "basicAuthUsername" then
+      api_key = ngx.ctx.remote_user
     end
 
-    if not is_empty(key["key_value"]) then
+    if not is_empty(api_key) then
       break
     end
   end
 
   -- Store the api key for logging.
-  ngx.ctx.api_key = key["key_value"]
+  ngx.ctx.api_key = api_key
 
-  return key
+  return api_key
 end
 
 return function(settings)
   -- Find the API key in the header, query string, or HTTP auth.
   local api_key = resolve_api_key()
-  if is_empty(api_key["key_value"]) then
+  if is_empty(api_key) then
     if settings and settings["disable_api_key"] then
       return nil
     else
@@ -62,7 +47,7 @@ return function(settings)
 
   -- Store the api key on the user object for easier access (the user object
   -- doesn't contain it directly, to save memory storage in the lookup table).
-  user["api_key"] = api_key["key_value"]
+  user["api_key"] = api_key
 
   -- Store user details for logging.
   ngx.ctx.user_id = user["id"]
@@ -91,4 +76,4 @@ return function(settings)
   end
 
   return user
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/src/api-umbrella/proxy/user_store.lua b/src/api-umbrella/proxy/user_store.lua
index 6b943af71..6ca87e4e2 100644
--- a/src/api-umbrella/proxy/user_store.lua
+++ b/src/api-umbrella/proxy/user_store.lua
@@ -8,33 +8,19 @@ local mongo = require "api-umbrella.utils.mongo"
 local shcache = require "shcache"
 local types = require "pl.types"
 local utils = require "api-umbrella.proxy.utils"
-local pep = require "api-umbrella.utils.pep"
 
 local cache_computed_settings = utils.cache_computed_settings
 local is_empty = types.is_empty
 
 local function lookup_user(api_key)
-  local raw_user
-  local db_err
-  local pep_err
-
-  -- Checking the field of api_key ["key_type"], if the key_type is api_key
-  -- the api_key value is checked in the database and retrieve the user information
-  -- else if the key_type is token, the token is checked using PEP Proxy and
-  -- the user information is retrieved
-  if not api_key["key_type"] or api_key["key_type"] == "api_key" then
-    raw_user, db_err = mongo.first("api_users", {
-      query = {
-        api_key = api_key["key_value"],
-      },
-    })
-  elseif api_key["key_type"] == "token" then
-    raw_user, pep_err = pep.first(config["gatekeeper"]["pep_host"],config["gatekeeper"]["pep_port"],api_key["key_value"])
-  end
-  if pep_err then
-    ngx.log(ngx.ERR, "failed to autenticate , status code:", pep_err)
-  elseif db_err then
-    ngx.log(ngx.ERR, "failed to fetch user from mongodb", db_err)
+  local raw_user, err = mongo.first("api_users", {
+    query = {
+      api_key = api_key,
+    },
+  })
+
+  if err then
+    ngx.log(ngx.ERR, "failed to fetch user from mongodb: ", err)
   elseif raw_user then
     local user = utils.pick_where_present(raw_user, {
       "created_at",
@@ -50,31 +36,15 @@ local function lookup_user(api_key)
     -- Ensure IDs get stored as strings, even if Mongo ObjectIds are in use.
     if raw_user["_id"] and raw_user["_id"]["$oid"] then
       user["id"] = raw_user["_id"]["$oid"]
-    elseif raw_user.Nick_Name then
-        user["id"] = raw_user.Nick_Name
-        if not raw_user.Email then
-            user["email"] = raw_user.Nick_Name
-        else
-            user["email"] = raw_user.Email
-        end
     else
-        user["id"] = raw_user["_id"]
-    end
-    -- If the validation was made using a token, the Nick_Name associate to the token
-    -- is assigned to the id attribute of the user
-    if raw_user.Nick_Name then
-      user["id"] = raw_user.Nick_Name
+      user["id"] = raw_user["_id"]
     end
 
     -- Invert the array of roles into a hashy table for more optimized
     -- lookups (so we can just check if the key exists, rather than
     -- looping over each value).
-    -- Moreover, in case that the user information have been retrieved using a token validation,
-    -- the roles associated with the token are stored in user ["roles"]
     if user["roles"] then
       user["roles"] = invert_table(user["roles"])
-    elseif raw_user.Roles then
-      user["roles"] = invert_table(raw_user.Roles)
     end
 
     if user["created_at"] and user["created_at"]["$date"] then
@@ -133,14 +103,14 @@ function _M.get(api_key)
     return nil
   end
 
-  user = shared_cache:load(api_key["key_value"])
+  user = shared_cache:load(api_key)
   if user then
-    local_cache:set(api_key["key_value"], user, 2)
+    local_cache:set(api_key, user, 2)
   else
-    local_cache:set(api_key["key_value"], EMPTY_DATA, 2)
+    local_cache:set(api_key, EMPTY_DATA, 2)
   end
 
   return user
 end
 
-return _M
\ No newline at end of file
+return _M
diff --git a/src/api-umbrella/utils/invert_table.lua b/src/api-umbrella/utils/invert_table.lua
index 126b8f38e..5d0000f22 100644
--- a/src/api-umbrella/utils/invert_table.lua
+++ b/src/api-umbrella/utils/invert_table.lua
@@ -1,18 +1,8 @@
 return function(table)
-  local numItems = 0
   local inverted = {}
   for key, value in pairs(table) do
-    if type(value)=="string" then
-      inverted[value] = key
-    else
-      for k,v in pairs(value) do
-        numItems = numItems + 1
-      end
-      if numItems > 1 then
-        value = value["name"]
-      end
-      inverted[value] = key
-    end
+    inverted[value] = key
   end
+
   return inverted
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/src/api-umbrella/utils/pep.lua b/src/api-umbrella/utils/pep.lua
deleted file mode 100644
index 33e7119d1..000000000
--- a/src/api-umbrella/utils/pep.lua
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-local http = require "resty.http"
-local cjson = require "cjson"
-local _M = {}
--- Function to connect with the Pep Proxy service for checking if the token is valid and retrieve
--- the user properties. The function takes the PEP Proxy host and port as parameters
--- and sends a request with the header X-Auth-Token with the value of the token provided
--- by the user. If the token is valid, PEP proxy sends a response with the user information
--- asociated to the token, otherwise, it sends a message indicating the result of the
--- validation process with his status, 404 , 402, etc.
-function _M.first(host, port, token)
-    local result
-    local httpc = http.new()
-    httpc:set_timeout(45000)
-    httpc:connect(host,port)
-    local res, err = httpc:request({headers = {["X-Auth-Token"] = token}})
-    if res and res.status == 200 then
-        local body, body_err = res:read_body()
-        if not body then
-            return nil, body_err
-        end
-        result = cjson.decode(body)
-    end
-
-    return result, err
-end
-
-return _M
\ No newline at end of file