Cardlytics runs a commerce‑media platform that uses anonymized first‑party transaction data from partner banks to serve card‑linked offers through native ad placements in banks’ digital channels. The platform provides marketers deterministic purchase intelligence, audience segmentation and test‑vs‑control lift measurement, while banks use the same infrastructure for cash‑back rewards that drive card usage. Fees are performance‑based, tied to verified incremental sales and reward redemptions.
Funding
$150M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Marketers lack direct access to deterministic, first‑party purchase data, making it difficult to target high‑value shoppers, personalize offers, and accurately attribute sales to advertising spend. Financial institutions also struggle to increase card usage and customer loyalty without compromising privacy.
Solution
Cardlytics operates a commerce‑media platform that ingests anonymized transaction data from partner banks and publishers. The platform delivers card‑linked offers through native ad placements in banks’ digital channels, enabling brands to reach real shoppers at the moment they decide where to spend. Advanced purchase‑intelligence dashboards surface where, when, and how consumers buy, supporting precise audience segmentation and campaign planning. A rigorous test‑vs‑control methodology ties each offer to actual online and in‑store purchases, providing closed‑loop measurement of incremental sales, ROI, and share‑of‑wallet shifts. For banks, the same infrastructure powers cash‑back rewards that incentivize card usage, boost engagement, and keep the card top‑of‑wallet, all while preserving consumer privacy through de‑identified data handling.
Target Audience
Primary customers are brand marketers and advertisers across retail, e‑commerce, travel, telecom, and streaming sectors seeking data‑driven acquisition and loyalty solutions, and financial institutions or publishers that want to boost card usage and customer engagement through cash‑back rewards.
Features
- Deterministic, first‑party transaction data from over 215 M bank customers in the US and UK, covering both online and in‑store purchases.
- Card‑linked offer engine that activates rewards with a single click; redemption is automatic at point‑of‑sale, requiring no coupons or promo codes.
- Native advertising platform embedded in banks’ mobile, web, and email channels, delivering brand‑safe, fraud‑free impressions to verified cardholders.
- Purchase‑intelligence portal with dashboards for market insights, competitor analysis, geographic spend patterns, and loyalty segmentation.
- Rigorous test‑vs‑control and incremental lift measurement (including third‑party Nielsen validation) that reports true sales impact down to the penny.
- API and SDK integrations for advertisers and publishers, enabling automated campaign setup, real‑time reporting, and seamless data exchange.
- Privacy‑first architecture: no personally identifiable information (PII) is shared; all data is de‑identified and processed within partner firewalls.
- Pay‑for‑performance pricing model where fees are tied to verified incremental sales and card‑linked reward redemptions.