MasterCard Worldwide today announced the availability of a merchant data service called MasterCard Advisors Merchant Solutions.
MasterCard is offering this service to merchants because the card brand saw how its strategy of using information, analytics and marketing services has helped some financial institutions, Andrew Woodward, MasterCard senior vice president of merchant solutions for MasterCard Advisors, tells PaymentsSource.
“We realized it would be good business to apply that winning strategy to merchants and began developing the product set and piloting its launch,” Woodward says.
As one piece of the service, SpendingPulse, provides comparative data on national retail sales and the payment types consumers use for various merchant categories, such as apparel, e-commerce and restaurants. “Because SpendingPulse compiles and aggregates transaction data from millions of U.S. transactions, plus estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check, it draws upon a much richer data source and larger universe than traditional macroeconomic indicators,” Woodward says.
Another component, Benchmark Analytics, which merchants access online, supplies comparative data on merchant performance against the merchant’s industry and a set of competitors, if the merchant chooses. They also can confine the data to a metropolitan statistical area, MasterCard says.
Merchants also can track metrics such as average transaction frequency and average transaction value. “Benchmark Analytics represents all general-purpose credit and signature-debit card spend, which is a statistically robust sample for tracking market share and spend behaviors,” Woodward says.
A third component consists of custom marketing services that identify cardholders of participating banks representing the best prospect for merchant marketing offers.
Advisors Merchant Solutions is available for any merchant, which can choose any or all of the components, Woodward says. SpendingPulse and Benchmark Analytics pricing starts at $10,000 for annual subscriptions to either service. Pricing for the marketing services will vary based on each merchant’s needs, MasterCard says.
Data for the services come from more than 340 million MasterCard-branded credit, charge and debit cards issued in the United States, MasterCard says. Additional information includes estimates of sales by other payment methods, such as cash, check, debit, charge and credit card sales across all brands.
