MasterCard Buys Stake in Analytics Firm

MasterCard's insights arm MasterCard Advisors has acquired a stake in decision science and data analytics firm Mu Sigma, and will work to combine its anonymous purchase behavior data with Mu Sigma's advanced analytics.

Mu Sigma employs more than 2500 analysts at its headquarters in Chicago and main delivery centre in Bangalore, India. Through these teams, it aims to help companies 'institutionalize data-driven decision-making' by integrating big data with business methods, maths and technology.

The new partners will jointly develop analytic tools to help clients with customer acquisition and retention. Gary Kearns, EVP, Information Services for MasterCard Advisors, comments: 'We went through an extensive process to choose the right partner and Mu Sigma's innovation labs and capabilities make them stand out as best-in-class in this field. By combining MasterCard Advisors' purchase behavior insights with Mu Sigma's expertise we will be able to drive faster innovations in data analytics solutions and deliver them on a broader scale, globally.'

MasterCard did not disclose details about the size of the stake it has acquired in Mu Sigma, which has so far raised around $133m in equity funding.

Last year, MasterCard Advisors partnered with ad intelligence provider Exponential Interactive to incorporate retail-level consumer spending behavior data into its online audience targeting services. The company also struck a deal with audience measurement firm Rentrak to combine the latter's TV Essentials viewing data from US homes with its consumer trends insights derived from billions of payment transactions.

Web sites: www.mastercardadvisors.com and www.mu-sigma.com .