New DWT PaymentLawAdvisor Post on MasterCard and Visa Targeted Advertising Initiatives

Regular visitors to this site might want to also bookmark and/or regularly visit our newly launched PaymentLawAdvisor, which provides commentary and resources on the payment industry, and frequently addresses privacy and security issues as they relate to retail payments. Presently, you can view PaymentLawAdvisor’s recent post about plans by Visa and MasterCard to push into the targeted ads and offers business.  After a recent Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) discussed those plans and how they aspire to link vast amounts of payment card transaction data with other cardholder personal data (such as Internet browsing habits, social network websites, credit bureaus, insurance claims, and even DNA databanks), the companies faced scrutiny from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), who sent them letters requesting more information about the privacy implications of their plans.  As PaymentLawAdvisor explains, such marketing tactics require careful structuring in order to comply with consumer privacy protections under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”).