AN4569: Facilitating Banking Transparency for Card Issuers

In early 2021, Mastercard rolled out a pivotal rule for its card issuers, dubbed AN4569 – Revised Standards for the Display of Enhanced Merchant Data. This mandate, slated for enforcement in October 2023, signified a conspicuous shift in how card issuers convey transaction details to cardholders. Understanding and adhering to these requirements is crucial for compliance and presents an opportunity for fintech firms and banks to elevate customer satisfaction and mitigate financial risks.

The crux of the mandate

Mastercard’s AN4569 regulation targets critical issues in the global chargeback market, which has experienced substantial financial repercussions. In 2022, the chargeback-to-transaction ratio indicated that 6 out of every 1000 transactions ended in a chargeback, leading to $40 billion in losses. This new mandate aims to cut these losses and enhance customer satisfaction through clearer transaction details.

Detailed Transaction Information Required by AN4569

Brand Name and Logo:

Transactions must now display the merchant’s brand name and logo prominently. This helps customers easily identify transaction entries on their statements, reducing confusion and potential disputes.

Location:

Including the merchant’s physical location provides another layer of transparency, helping customers connect the transaction to a specific place, which can be vital in verifying transaction legitimacy.

Contact Details:

AN4569 requires that merchants’ contact details, such as their website, telephone number, and email address, be included. This access to additional information is critical for consumers who wish to follow up on transactions or need further clarification.

Understanding the AN4569 Requirements

At the core of AN4569 compliance lies data enrichment, augmenting existing transaction data with additional external information. By enriching payment data, banks and financial institutions gain deeper insights into customer behavior, preferences, and needs. This enhances customer service and personalization and enables more informed credit risk decisions. Enriched data typically revolves around two primary components: Merchant Information and Shop Information.

How to Meet the Requirements?

Compliance with AN4569 involves several practical steps:

Data Integration:

Financial institutions, Banks, and Fintech firms must integrate external data sources to enrich transaction details, which can be done by integrating API’s such as Genify’s Transaction Categorization API.

System Upgrades:

Update their IT systems to handle the enhanced data processing and display requirements.

Stakeholder Collaboration:

Collaborate with enrichment providers like Genify to ensure that the data shared is accurate and comprehensive.

Transformative Use Cases:

Mastercard’s AN4569 mandate isn’t just about compliance—it’s about transforming the fintech landscape. Here are a few compelling use cases where going beyond the basic requirements can create groundbreaking opportunities:

Visual Payments Overview:

Imagine a user interface that not only complies with AN4569 but enhances it with GPS locations, purchase categories, and merchant URLs, offering a visually rich and intuitive experience of financial transactions.

Enhanced Fraud Detection and Credit Scoring:

By incorporating detailed merchant information and transaction specifics, banks can drastically improve their fraud detection systems and credit risk assessments, making the financial environment safer for everyone.

Deep Dive into Customer Behavior:

Utilizing advanced analytics like Google Places ID and CO2/Eco-tags, businesses can gain profound insights into consumer behavior, tailoring services to meet customer needs and driving competitive advantage.

Insightful Recurring Payments:

With enriched data providing details like merchant URLs, customers can get a comprehensive view of their recurring expenses, turning a simple list of transactions into a dashboard of financial insights.

Enhancing Customer Acquisition and Retention:

Financial institutions face challenges in targeted marketing campaigns for card acquisition and retention. By leveraging enriched transaction data—such as merchant categories and purchase locations—banks can create highly targeted campaigns. These efforts lead to increased effectiveness, improved customer satisfaction, and ultimately higher card usage and revenue. Going beyond basic merchant information allows banks to personalize offerings and retain customers effectively. Furthermore, with a unified merchant view, banks can identify loyalty programs offered by partnered merchants and tailor retention strategies with targeted rewards programs, aligning with the AN4569 mandate.

Personal Finance Management (PFM) Enhanced by Data:

Leveraging enriched transaction data, including location and ecological impact, can empower users with personalized spending insights, promoting better financial decisions and enhancing overall financial health.

Consumer Education:

Educating cardholders on understanding and utilizing the enriched data for better transaction management has now become a necessity with the current advancements.

By tapping into enriched data, educating your cardholders, and nurturing collaborative partnerships, you’re not only meeting compliance but also unlocking endless possibilities in the fintech realm.

AN4569: A Win-Win for Banking Evolution

In conclusion, embracing Mastercard’s AN4569 mandate isn’t just about ticking off compliance boxes—it’s about seizing a golden opportunity to revolutionize the fintech landscape. By enriching transaction data and embracing the requirements with enthusiasm, banks, fintech firms, and card issuers can create a win-win scenario for both themselves and their users. From providing clearer transaction details to enhancing fraud detection and credit scoring, the benefits are boundless. And let’s not forget the transformative use cases, where going beyond the basics can lead to groundbreaking innovations in user experience and financial management. So, let’s embrace the challenge, seize the opportunity, and together, let’s shape the future of fintech—one enriched transaction at a time.