FIS Says ‘Smart Basket’ Helps Issuers Compete for Everyday Spend

Personalization has become one of the most valuable but difficult promises in commerce, particularly at checkout, where consumers want an experience that is seamless, relevant and able to deliver value without extra effort.

Payments, rewards and consumer intent often operate in different lanes, and closing the gap between them has become a priority for both brands and financial institutions.

Mladen Vladic, head of product, payment networks for FIS, told PYMNTS the current environment makes the need for value and relevance even more urgent. “We live clearly in a K-shaped economy,” he said, adding that recent consumer data shows that the top 10% of consumers account for 50% of consumer spending in the country. Meanwhile, the bottom 90% are searching for savings as they make everyday decisions.

That economic tension is forcing marketers to rethink how they present value and how they influence buying decisions. Vladic argued that the traditional model, where an offer must be activated, used and then reconciled later through a delayed statement credit, “is clearly a deficiency of the current model.”

Consumers want immediacy, and in his view, real-time value and real-time checkout need to coexist.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now central to that shift, he said. “Having access to the AI-enabled technology allows us to truly focus on the concept of delivering a relevant offer,” he said. The technology can “infer intent and mood and even financial readiness,” giving brands and issuers a better chance to deliver relevance without crossing the line into intrusiveness.

Pressures on issuers are rising at the same time. Competition from digital challengers has accelerated, and Vladic said banks are feeling the pressure.

He also pointed to regulatory changes that could alter card acceptance rules, which places greater importance on promoting the right card at the right moment. That pressure is sharper with younger consumers. “Issuers should never assume that you have locked in loyalty with Gen Z,” he said, as their loyalty must be earned continuously.

Network Behind Real-Time Redemption

Vladic said FIS has spent years developing the components that now converge in Smart Basket. The company “revolutionized the traditional redemption experience” by letting customers redeem points, cash or miles in real time at the point of sale, he said. Its filtered spend technology delivers “basket-level intelligence in real time,” and its routing capabilities let payments move efficiently across its network.

Bringing these capabilities together allows FIS to meet rising expectations for convenience and personalization. Time and effort matter, Vladic said, noting that the experience must remove unnecessary steps.

Relevance also depends on transparency and communication before, during and after the transaction. Payment recommendations become more important when card acceptance rules shift or when consumers need guidance on the best way to pay.

Smart Basket integrates these capabilities into one platform that reads basket-level details in real time and applies the most relevant reward or offer instantly. Vladic described it as a solution built to eliminate disjointed incentives and deliver savings “in real time at the point of sale.”

The solution relies heavily on AI to match offers and optimize payment choice. By using AI to read intent and readiness, Smart Basket attempts to solve for what Vladic sees as the next stage of personalization, where timing, value and context align without requiring the consumer to take extra steps.

Process Innovation, Not Just Product Innovation

Vladic called Smart Basket “more than a new product” and described it as a form of process innovation. It rethinks how existing FIS assets work together and aligns them with market trends like real-time choices, value-driven shopping and the need for attribution. Its purpose is to turn a transaction into a value-creation event, rather than an isolated payment.

The economic implications for issuers are significant. With traditional rewards models under pressure, Smart Basket introduces new funding sources. Offers funded by brands and CPG companies can be layered on top of issuer-funded value. That gives issuers flexibility to continue meeting consumer expectations even if their own funding contributions need to shift over time.

Brands and merchants also gain new visibility. With roughly $90 billion spent annually on advertising across multiple channels, attribution is one of their biggest concerns. Vladic said Smart Basket’s basket-level clarity and closed-loop measurement let brands see how campaigns perform down to the specific product. That precision helps move budgets toward channels that deliver measurable return.

“It’s really a new way of thinking about existing assets,” he told PYMNTS.