Mastercard’s Dynamic Yield Acquisition to Scale Personalized Experiences Across the Digital Economy

In a bid to enrich omnichannel engagement and improve conversion across the digital economy, Mastercard announced Tuesday (Dec. 21) that will acquire Dynamic Yield, the robust personalization platform and decision engine firm that fast-food giant McDonald’s has owned since 2019.

Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal is expected to close in first-half 2022.

Speaking with Karen Webster about the potential of the Dynamic Yield loyalty and engagement platform for Mastercard, Raj Seshadri, President, Mastercard Data and Services, said, “It’s a very natural extension of what we do, for example, with SessionM or Test and Learn and some of our insights products that we provide, the data analytics and marketing services that we provide, being digital-first in the payment space — this will enhance all of that.”

Dynamic Yield goes beyond basic personalization by using algorithms that align consumer attributes and behaviors across devices and channels, rendering a more complete portrait of a each specific customer.

Webster noted that Dynamic Yield is a platform made to not only enable the connected economy, but to also further the digital engagement within and across it, and Seshadri agreed.

“It’s very good at ingesting data and then connecting to different sources,” Seshadri said. “The ability to make whatever experience a consumer has completely relevant to them in the moment, in a very contextual way — through the right set of channels with the right offers to upsell, to cross sell, to reactivate — all of that is really at the core of this.”

As personalization moves beyond the individual to entire ecosystems, Dynamic Yield can easily scale while integrating with the entire suite of Mastercard technology.

Seshadri said Mastercard was particularly interested in the platform’s approach to automated A/B testing and personalization algorithms.

The payments giant has been pursuing an aggressive strategy in the loyalty space through a combination of house-grown solutions and acquisitions. Adding Dynamic Yield to the mix, Seshadri said, will offer clients a complete engagement platform-as-a-service.

“Think about what [Dynamic Yield is] doing today and the possibility of what they could be doing in the B2B2C [business-to-business-to-consumer] model that we have,” Seshadri said. “The more efficiently and effectively they engage with their consumers, the more powerful the experience.”

The objective: tailored loyalty programs that anticipate customers’ demands in their critical moment of need.

“Relevance in the moment, teed up in the right way — it’s something that I would accept a consumer,” Seshadri said. “I think is critically important, and that’s what makes this this acquisition exciting.

See also: Mastercard to Acquire McDonald’s Personalization Platform, Dynamic Yield