diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f9bc7541..d0914f08 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 **Features:**
 
 - JWT::EncodedToken#verify! method that bundles signature and claim validation [#647](https://github.com/jwt/ruby-jwt/pull/647) ([@anakinj](https://github.com/anakinj))
+- Require token signature to be verified before accessing payload (Breaking change!) [#648](https://github.com/jwt/ruby-jwt/pull/648) ([@anakinj](https://github.com/anakinj))
 - Your contribution here
 
 **Fixes and enhancements:**
diff --git a/lib/jwt/claims.rb b/lib/jwt/claims.rb
index 581facf3..22492a7d 100644
--- a/lib/jwt/claims.rb
+++ b/lib/jwt/claims.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 require_relative 'claims/numeric'
 require_relative 'claims/required'
 require_relative 'claims/subject'
-require_relative 'claims/verification_methods'
 require_relative 'claims/verifier'
 
 module JWT
diff --git a/lib/jwt/claims/verification_methods.rb b/lib/jwt/claims/verification_methods.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c8ec0a8..00000000
--- a/lib/jwt/claims/verification_methods.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-# frozen_string_literal: true
-
-module JWT
-  module Claims
-    # Provides methods to verify the claims of a token.
-    module VerificationMethods
-      # Verifies the claims of the token.
-      # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
-      # @raise [JWT::DecodeError] if the claims are invalid.
-      def verify_claims!(*options)
-        Verifier.verify!(self, *options)
-      end
-
-      # Returns the errors of the claims of the token.
-      # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
-      # @return [Array<Symbol>] the errors of the claims.
-      def claim_errors(*options)
-        Verifier.errors(self, *options)
-      end
-
-      # Returns whether the claims of the token are valid.
-      # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
-      # @return [Boolean] whether the claims are valid.
-      def valid_claims?(*options)
-        claim_errors(*options).empty?
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/jwt/decode.rb b/lib/jwt/decode.rb
index 743b6b43..67437c03 100644
--- a/lib/jwt/decode.rb
+++ b/lib/jwt/decode.rb
@@ -33,10 +33,10 @@ def decode_segments
         verify_algo
         set_key
         verify_signature
-        Claims::DecodeVerifier.verify!(token.payload, @options)
+        Claims::DecodeVerifier.verify!(token.unverified_payload, @options)
       end
 
-      [token.payload, token.header]
+      [token.unverified_payload, token.header]
     end
 
     private
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def resolve_allowed_algorithms
     end
 
     def find_key(&keyfinder)
-      key = (keyfinder.arity == 2 ? yield(token.header, token.payload) : yield(token.header))
+      key = (keyfinder.arity == 2 ? yield(token.header, token.unverified_payload) : yield(token.header))
       # key can be of type [string, nil, OpenSSL::PKey, Array]
       return key if key && !Array(key).empty?
 
diff --git a/lib/jwt/encoded_token.rb b/lib/jwt/encoded_token.rb
index ac608f3d..d31d9b6a 100644
--- a/lib/jwt/encoded_token.rb
+++ b/lib/jwt/encoded_token.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,21 @@ module JWT
   #   encoded_token.verify_signature!(algorithm: 'HS256', key: 'secret')
   #   encoded_token.payload # => {'pay' => 'load'}
   class EncodedToken
-    include Claims::VerificationMethods
+    # @private
+    # Allow access to the unverified payload for claim verification.
+    class ClaimsContext
+      extend Forwardable
+
+      def_delegators :@token, :header, :unverified_payload
+
+      def initialize(token)
+        @token = token
+      end
+
+      def payload
+        unverified_payload
+      end
+    end
 
     # Returns the original token provided to the class.
     # @return [String] The JWT token.
@@ -26,6 +40,7 @@ def initialize(jwt)
       raise ArgumentError, 'Provided JWT must be a String' unless jwt.is_a?(String)
 
       @jwt = jwt
+      @signature_verified = false
       @encoded_header, @encoded_payload, @encoded_signature = jwt.split('.')
     end
 
@@ -53,11 +68,20 @@ def header
     # @return [String] the encoded header.
     attr_reader :encoded_header
 
-    # Returns the payload of the JWT token.
+    # Returns the payload of the JWT token. Access requires the signature to have been verified.
     #
     # @return [Hash] the payload.
+    # @raise [JWT::DecodeError] if the signature has not been verified.
     def payload
-      @payload ||= decode_payload
+      raise JWT::DecodeError, 'Verify the token signature before accessing the payload' unless @signature_verified
+
+      decoded_payload
+    end
+
+    # Returns the payload of the JWT token without requiring the signature to have been verified.
+    # @return [Hash] the payload.
+    def unverified_payload
+      decoded_payload
     end
 
     # Sets or returns the encoded payload of the JWT token.
@@ -101,8 +125,10 @@ def verify_signature!(algorithm:, key: nil, key_finder: nil)
 
       key ||= key_finder.call(self)
 
-      return if valid_signature?(algorithm: algorithm, key: key)
-
+      if valid_signature?(algorithm: algorithm, key: key)
+        @signature_verified = true
+        return
+      end
       raise JWT::VerificationError, 'Signature verification failed'
     end
 
@@ -119,6 +145,27 @@ def valid_signature?(algorithm:, key:)
       end
     end
 
+    # Verifies the claims of the token.
+    # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
+    # @raise [JWT::DecodeError] if the claims are invalid.
+    def verify_claims!(*options)
+      Claims::Verifier.verify!(ClaimsContext.new(self), *options)
+    end
+
+    # Returns the errors of the claims of the token.
+    # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
+    # @return [Array<Symbol>] the errors of the claims.
+    def claim_errors(*options)
+      Claims::Verifier.errors(ClaimsContext.new(self), *options)
+    end
+
+    # Returns whether the claims of the token are valid.
+    # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
+    # @return [Boolean] whether the claims are valid.
+    def valid_claims?(*options)
+      claim_errors(*options).empty?
+    end
+
     alias to_s jwt
 
     private
@@ -151,5 +198,9 @@ def parse(segment)
     rescue ::JSON::ParserError
       raise JWT::DecodeError, 'Invalid segment encoding'
     end
+
+    def decoded_payload
+      @decoded_payload ||= decode_payload
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/jwt/token.rb b/lib/jwt/token.rb
index 8a7fb2dc..4f61c839 100644
--- a/lib/jwt/token.rb
+++ b/lib/jwt/token.rb
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ module JWT
   #   token.header # => {"custom"=>"value", "alg"=>"HS256"}
   #
   class Token
-    include Claims::VerificationMethods
-
     # Initializes a new Token instance.
     #
     # @param header [Hash] the header of the JWT token.
@@ -104,6 +102,27 @@ def sign!(algorithm:, key:)
       nil
     end
 
+    # Verifies the claims of the token.
+    # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
+    # @raise [JWT::DecodeError] if the claims are invalid.
+    def verify_claims!(*options)
+      Claims::Verifier.verify!(self, *options)
+    end
+
+    # Returns the errors of the claims of the token.
+    # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
+    # @return [Array<Symbol>] the errors of the claims.
+    def claim_errors(*options)
+      Claims::Verifier.errors(self, *options)
+    end
+
+    # Returns whether the claims of the token are valid.
+    # @param options [Array<Symbol>, Hash] the claims to verify.
+    # @return [Boolean] whether the claims are valid.
+    def valid_claims?(*options)
+      claim_errors(*options).empty?
+    end
+
     # Returns the JWT token as a string.
     #
     # @return [String] the JWT token as a string.
diff --git a/spec/jwt/encoded_token_spec.rb b/spec/jwt/encoded_token_spec.rb
index 037a8127..54ec9fea 100644
--- a/spec/jwt/encoded_token_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/jwt/encoded_token_spec.rb
@@ -13,20 +13,20 @@
 
   subject(:token) { described_class.new(encoded_token) }
 
-  describe '#payload' do
-    it { expect(token.payload).to eq(payload) }
+  describe '#unverified_payload' do
+    it { expect(token.unverified_payload).to eq(payload) }
 
     context 'when payload is detached' do
       let(:encoded_token) { detached_payload_token.jwt }
 
       context 'when payload provided in separate' do
         before { token.encoded_payload = detached_payload_token.encoded_payload }
-        it { expect(token.payload).to eq(payload) }
+        it { expect(token.unverified_payload).to eq(payload) }
       end
 
       context 'when payload is not provided' do
         it 'raises decode error' do
-          expect { token.payload }.to raise_error(JWT::DecodeError, 'Encoded payload is empty')
+          expect { token.unverified_payload }.to raise_error(JWT::DecodeError, 'Encoded payload is empty')
         end
       end
     end
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
       before { token.encoded_payload = '{"foo": "bar"}' }
 
       it 'handles the payload encoding' do
-        expect(token.payload).to eq({ 'foo' => 'bar' })
+        expect(token.unverified_payload).to eq({ 'foo' => 'bar' })
       end
     end
 
@@ -45,7 +45,21 @@
       let(:encoded_token) { '' }
 
       it 'raises decode error' do
-        expect { token.payload }.to raise_error(JWT::DecodeError, 'Invalid segment encoding')
+        expect { token.unverified_payload }.to raise_error(JWT::DecodeError, 'Invalid segment encoding')
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#payload' do
+    context 'when token is verified' do
+      before { token.verify_signature!(algorithm: 'HS256', key: 'secret') }
+
+      it { expect(token.payload).to eq(payload) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when token is not verified' do
+      it 'raises an error' do
+        expect { token.payload }.to raise_error(JWT::DecodeError, 'Verify the token signature before accessing the payload')
       end
     end
   end