Amazon paying customers for their receipts is a sign your FI needs deeper data
Amazon recently launched its Amazon Shopper Panel, a program that pays consumers for uploading their receipts for non-Amazon purchases. While the industry has speculated about Big Tech’s threat to traditional financial institutions for years, this is a move that bankers must PAY attention to; Amazon is the first tech giant with the potential to capture outside spend, a significant piece of the customer behavior pie.
The good news is that banks and credit unions still have the upper hand when it comes to knowing and serving their customers and members, and they can take proactive steps now to protect their relationships and market share. But, they must access and leverage deeper, more contextual data points to remain competitive. It all starts with digital receipts.
Understanding every piece of the transaction data pie
Financial institutions are currently sitting on massive piles of data and often struggle to find ways to make it actionable and meaningful for their customers. Transaction data gathered from purchases can tell the bank or credit union limited information such as merchant, total purchase amount and date. While this information is a start, it’s simply not enough to fully understand the bigger picture. That’s where institutions need to dig deeper, leveraging alternate data to help them better know and understand their customers.
Partnering with a SKU-level data expert can reveal key insights from receipts such as the items & SKUs, taxes and tips, off-card spend and return & warranty information. Such details can provide a better understanding of brand loyalties, life stage events, behavioral data, and psychographics, providing a more holistic view of customers and their timely financial needs.
Amazon understands the value of SKU-level data and now wants to know offline spend, something that’s traditionally been unique to banks and credit unions. Think about how much the retailer can learn about their customers if they gain SKU-level data from outside receipts, in addition to their existing data from Amazon video viewership, reading lists from Audible, and Prime deliveries. Combining what they already know with offline spend would strengthen the types of programs developed and offers recommended.
For example, knowing a customer purchased a health-conscious cookbook on Audible, buys fresh fruits and vegetables, and streams workout videos on Prime, Amazon could suggest top-rated workout equipment and gear. Knowledge is power, something that Amazon knows and is willing to pay for—$10 for 10 receipts, to be exact.
Being on top of your institution’s top-of-wallet strategy
The information gained from this new program could also be used to build personalized rewards from heavily segmented data, and if that’s the case, financial institutions must get ahead of the curve. For example, there should be a concerted effort to ensure a bank or credit union’s card remains top of wallet.
By harnessing SKU-level data, institutions can do a better job offering more personalized rewards and loyalty programs that prompt customers to reach for that institution’s card first. Insights gleaned from alternative data can enable institutions to help customers maximize savings and make each dollar go farther, which is critical to a winning strategy.
Financial institutions and Big Techs alike are trying to find ways to better understand and deepen customer relationships with their own products and services. Banks and credit unions already have the transaction-level data, but in order to compete and retain relationships, they must start leveraging deeper, SKU-level data to better know their customers and anticipate timely financial needs. Amazon understands the power of digital receipts andhas a plan to harness it—do you?