Mastercard Unveils Digital Media Network to Deliver Personalized Advertising

Mastercard has unveiled a new digital media network designed to deliver personalized advertising across its owned channels and other channels.

The new Mastercard Commerce Media will use insights from permissioned data to deliver personalized offers and content to consumers, and it will use proprietary card-linking technology to attribute conversion and incrementality for advertisers, the company said in a Wednesday (Oct. 1) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

Advertisers can use this digital media network to deliver tailored offers and content like cashback, discounts, incentives and advertising, according to the release.

Mastercard will use permissioned data about past purchase behavior and real purchase signals to identify the right audience for each offer, the release said.

Because consumers who receive the offers will be able to activate them on their enrolled card, Mastercard will then be able to attribute each purchase to the served content, per the release.

This offering will benefit advertisers by helping them make the most of their budgets, publishers by providing accurate attribution and helping build loyalty with their audience, and consumers by delivering relevant content and offers, the release said.

“Mastercard Commerce Media is a natural extension of the trusted connections we’re known for and the work we already do across our unique suite of services,” Mastercard Chief Services Officer Craig Vosburg said in the release. “That means we’re not just well-positioned to bring a full-scale commerce media network to life — we’re best-positioned.”

PYMNTS reported in June 2024 that credit card use can give granular insight into buying habits and help extend the lifetime value of customer relationships. This context can make advertising ever more personal in nature.

In July, PYMNTS reported that retail media networks are rapidly gaining momentum as they leverage first-party data and foster collaboration across commerce ecosystems. These networks benefit from data about what people buy and how they shop.

Mastercard said in its Wednesday press release that while retail media networks have exploded in recent years, they leave advertisers uncertain about the channels’ value and efficacy because those channels provide limited insight into consumer preferences and inconsistent measurement across retailers and providers.

“Mastercard Commerce Media’s distinct end-to-end approach, bolstered by wide merchant reach and the highest standard of attribution, solves those problems,” the company said in the release.