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A24 technology
Tuesday 3 december 2019
For banks, data on your spending habits could be a gold mine

By ANICK JESDANUN ty good idea that you're
AP Technology Writer about to travel if you've
NEW YORK (AP) — There's charged a flight or hotel
a powerful new player stays. HSBC is looking into
watching what you buy so using that data to set up
it can tailor product offer- automatic alerts, so that it
ings for you: the bank be- wouldn't decline your card
hind your credit or debit use as fraudulent when you
card. For years, Google start charging for meals in
and Facebook have been Kathmandu or Karachi.
showing ads based on your The next step is to make
online behavior. Retailers location-specific offers,
from Amazon to Walgreens perhaps for a car rental,
also regularly suction up as soon as you land. Mar-
your transaction history to cos Meneguzzi, HSBC's U.S.
steer future spending and head of cards and unse-
hold your loyalty. cured lending, said card-
Now banks, too, want to holders will welcome such
turn data they already offers, at least when they're
have on your spending relevant. But he warns that
habits into extra revenue banks could easily over-
by identifying likely custom- step and lose their custom-
ers for retailers. Banks are This Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, photo shows rewards offered through Chase bank on an iPhone in the ers' trust. Many of these ef-
increasingly aware that Brooklyn borough of New York. forts remain in their infancy,
they could be sitting on a Associated Press and it's not yet clear how
gold mine of information well they'll catch on. The
that can be used to predict a slew of smaller banks. that series of bills paid at a nerships, Cardlytics says it Cardlytics programs, for
— or sway — where you Unlike Google or Face- cancer clinic, for instance, gets insights on about $2.8 instance, don't push offers
spend. Historically, such book, which try to infer what or that big strip-club tab trillion worth of annual con- through notifications. You
data has been used mostly you're interested in buying that you thought stayed in sumer spending worldwide. have to look for them in
for fraud protection. based on your searches, Vegas. A bank might sus- A Cardlytics rival named your banking app or web-
Suppose you were to treat web visits or likes, "banks pect someone's adulterous Augeo runs a similar pro- site. Abeer Bhatia, an ex-
yourself to lunch on Cyber have the secret weapon affair long before the be- gram with other banks, ecutive with Chase's cred-
Monday, the busiest online in that they actually know trayed partner would. which it declined to name. it-card business, said com-
shopping day of the year. If what we spend money on," "Ten years ago, your bank American Express has an in- missions barely cover oper-
you order ahead at Chipo- said Silvio Tavares of the was like your psychiatrist or house program for its card- ational costs. To Chase, the
tle — paying, of course, trade group CardLinx As- your minister — your bank holders. Visa targets offers program is more important
with your credit card — you sociation, whose members kept secrets," said Ed Mi- on Uber's app for credits for incentivizing rewards-
might soon find your bank help broker purchase-relat- erzwinski, a consumer ad- toward rides and food de- conscious consumers to
dangling 10% off lunch at ed offers. "It's a better pre- vocate at the U.S. Public livery. Even though banks use its cards. If a Chase
Little Caesars. The bank dictor of what we're going Interest Research Group. only know where you've card gets you an extra 10%
would earn fees from the to spend on." Now, he says, "they think shopped — and not specif- at Rite Aid, why pull out
pizza joint, both for showing While banks say they're they are the same as a de- ically what you bought — your Citi card?
the offer and processing moving cautiously and partment store or an online they're often able to make As far as these companies
the payment. being mindful of privacy merchant." educated guesses. After are concerned, Americans
Wells Fargo began custom- concerns, it's not clear that The startup Cardlytics, one all, it's not likely you're at a have repeatedly dem-
izing retail offers for indi- consumers are fully aware of the field's pioneers, runs liquor store for the potato onstrated that they value
vidual customers on Nov. of what their banks are up the offer programs for Wells chips. The bank can then freebies and discounts
21, joining Chase, Bank of to. Banks know many of our Fargo, Chase and other infer other things you may more than intangible pri-
America, PNC, SunTrust and deepest, darkest secrets — banks. Though these part- like. It would have a pret- vacy concerns. q

Facebook tests tool to move photos to

Google, other rivals

easily to other online ser- sonal data such as images Germany, Brazil and Sin-
vices, as it faces pressure as they look into whether gapore to learn about
from regulators to loosen the tech giant's domi- which data should be por-
its grip on data. nance is stifling competi- table and how to protect
The social network's new tion and limiting choice privacy.
tool will allow people to for consumers. Facebook The company is develop-
transfer their photos and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has ing products that "take
videos directly to compet- reacted by calling for new into account the feed-
ing platforms, starting with rules to address "data por- back we've received and
Google Photos. tability" and other issues. will help drive data porta-
In this Wednesday, March 21, 2018 file photo, the Facebook The tool will then be rolled Facebook said that as it bility policies forward by
logo is seen on a smartphone in Ilsan, South Korea. out worldwide in the first worked on a new set of giving people and experts
Associated Press half of 2020. data portability tools, it a tool to assess," Steve Sat-
U.S. and European regula- had discussions with poli- terfield, director of privacy
LONDON (AP) — Face- on Monday that lets users tors have been examining cymakers, regulators, and and public policy, said in a
book started testing a tool move their images more Facebook's control of per- academics in the U.K., blog post.q