Precision at Scale: Unlocking the Future of Customer Connection

At Advertising Week New York, MasterCard announced the launch of its new Commerce Media Network, positioning the company at the forefront of a rapidly evolving marketing landscape where commerce, data, and digital media converge.

While retail and commerce media networks have surged across the industry, MasterCard’s entry into the space signals something different—a network built on trust, data, and connectivity. The company aims to help brands reach consumers through privacy-safe, data-driven personalization at scale, while closing the loop between media exposure and actual purchase behavior.

“We’re not a credit card company—we’re a network,” said Nili Klenoff, Executive Vice President at MasterCard. “Our business has always been about connecting merchants to consumers, and now we’re extending that same principle to connect brands with consumers through a network of publishers.”

For more than ten years, MasterCard has operated personalized card-linked offer programs, generating what Klenoff described as “22x returns for advertisers—virtually unheard of in the industry.” The Commerce Media Network builds on that foundation, offering advertisers omnichannel visibility, closed-loop attribution, and personalization capabilities grounded in more than 160 billion annual transactions across MasterCard’s network.

Klenoff compared the system to a “highway connecting all the cars,” enabling seamless communication between advertisers, publishers, and consumers. The network currently encompasses 25,000 advertisers and 500 million consumers, with room to scale through MasterCard’s global merchant and cardholder reach.

In an era of heightened scrutiny around data use, Klenoff emphasized that trust remains MasterCard’s currency. The Commerce Media Network operates on aggregated, anonymized, and consent-based data, with content delivered exclusively in brand-safe, authenticated publisher environments.

“Privacy has always been built in from the moment of ideation,” Klenoff said. “Our publishers are vetted, our environments are authenticated, and our consumers are in control.”

Partnerships are also at the core of the initiative. Early collaborators include Citibank, American Airlines, Microsoft, and WPP, reflecting the network’s intent to connect across the ecosystem—from financial institutions to airlines to streaming platforms.

MasterCard’s approach goes beyond targeting moments of transaction. By analyzing spending patterns and engagement frequency, the company aims to align messaging with the consumer’s psychological journey—from awareness to loyalty.

This adaptive messaging system is supported by card-linking technology, allowing MasterCard to tie impressions directly to purchases across online and offline channels. “Many networks create their own homework,” Klenoff noted. “We can actually see the transaction through to completion.”

The platform also introduces a new twist on loyalty: publishers can structure consumer rewards in their own currencies—such as airline miles or streaming credits—creating what Klenoff called a “mutual value exchange” among advertisers, publishers, and consumers.

As commerce expands beyond traditional retail into social, connected, and agentic environments, MasterCard is already planning ahead. The company sees opportunity in the rise of AI-powered shopping agents, connected devices, and messaging-based commerce, particularly in markets like Latin America where WhatsApp is already a full-fledged commerce hub.

“Our strategy is about being where the consumer is—whether that’s a website, a social feed, a fridge, or a GPT-powered assistant,” Klenoff said. “The future of commerce is everywhere, and so are we.”