Mastercard has launched a debit card rewards solution in Australia, having spent time to understand what motivates the typical Australian debit card user, many of whom are under the age of 35. Finder.com reported:
As a lot of debit cardholders are under the age of 35, a lot of the rewards offers are tailored towards millennials. Examples of some of the current offers debit Mastercard holders can take advantage of are free herb and garlic pizza squares from Crust Pizza, six month free membership with car sharing service GoGet and 20% off amaysim mobile plans.
To support the launch of the new Rewards Program, Mastercard has released the results of a first-of-its-kind neuroscience experiment conducted in conjunction with the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The experiment asked millennial participants to choose between two responses across a range of questions, with the findings used to help determine what rewards should be on offer as part of the Debit Rewards program.
A review of the dozen reward opportunities currently available through Mastercard as a part of this program they appear to be merchant-funded. This makes sense since debit card interchange revenue that issuers can earn and then use to pay for programs like rewards is set by government regulation at a low level that couldn’t support the maintenance and funding of consumer rewards.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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