- Retail media involves retailers selling advertising space within their digital channels to third-party brands.
- Banks are starting to do the same, and this emerging trend is called financial media networks.
- In the US, Chase has embraced financial media networks by offering Chase Media Solutions, and in Europe, BoursoBank and Revolut are taking advantage of this new approach.
- Other financial institutions should investigate how to effectively leverage financial media networks for themselves, consumers, and advertisers.
- With consumers, banks should consider offering automatic cashback, personalised rewards, maintaining trust, and complying with regulations.
- With advertisers, banks need to provide advanced algorithmic and data analytic tools.
On April 3rd, 2024, Chase unveiled “Chase Media Solutions”, a digital media business connecting the bank’s almost 80 million US consumers and nearly six million small businesses with a diverse array of brands, from shopping and travel to dining. The new platform makes them the first major North American bank to target the digital advertising market.
Meanwhile, closer to home in France, BoursoBank revealed its “VIP” retail media model in May 2024. The full-funnel approach gives selected “very important partners” the chance to leverage socio-demographic and transactional data collected by the bank, helping them tailor offers to BoursoBank’s customers.
Is this the start of a trend in the banking industry, similar to the retail sector? Below, we explore the topic in detail, including how banks can make the most of this new business opportunity.
What is retail media?
Retail media has become more widespread in recent years; it involves retailers selling advertising space within their digital channels to third-party brands. According to an outlook report by Advertiser Perceptions, retail media is expected to account for 20% of US ad spending in 2024. Globally, it’s projected to reach a value of €165 billion by 2025, representing just over a fifth of digital advertising. One reason for the rapid growth is its appeal to advertisers and retailers alike.
With privacy regulations strengthening, internet browsers including Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari have blocked third-party cookies. Google Chrome is set to do the same in 2025. For advertisers, retail media is an efficient alternative, allowing them to leverage data owned by retailers.
It’s also a relevant strategy: thanks to retailers’ high-quality data and large reach, advertisers can target consumers with high purchase intent across multiple touchpoints, enhancing campaign performance and return on ad spend (ROAS).
Meanwhile, according to research by Google and global consulting firm BCG, the concept offers retailers a high-margin revenue stream, with gross profits estimated between 70% and 90%.
Retail media started in the US and is rapidly growing in Europe, with total ad spending across the UK, France, and Germany valued at $6.58 billion in 2023 by Emarketers, with forecasts expecting that figure to more than double by 2027 to $15.29 billion.
Unlimitail, the joint venture (JV) announced by Carrefour and Publicis in June 2023, was particularly notable. The JV saw the technology of Publicis combine with Carrefour’s data, creating an alternative platform to a market dominated by Amazon. Indeed, they signed up more than 20 leading retailers.
Financial media networks: gathering momentum
Could a similar trend take hold in financial services, resulting in a financial media network (FMN) model? There’s certainly potential, given the two industries share similar attractive traits for advertisers. For example, like retailers, banks have large audiences and omnichannel interaction channels such as web and mobile applications.
Additionally, both sectors have access to vast pools of information, albeit different types: retail media offers shopping and browsing data, whereas banks can provide payment information, highlighting consumers’ spending habits across stores. Similar to retail, financial media networks promise personalised promotions to customers and a new revenue stream.
In fact, the financial media network conversation is no longer theoretical. In the US, Chase publicly stated their strategy, after a multi-year journey. In 2018, they partnered with Cardlytics to provide consumers with card-linked offers (CLOs) from brands and retailers. Chase then decided to double down, acquiring Figg in 2022, helping them control their own CLO technology platform. In 2024, the bank launched Chase Media Solutions, after companies like Air Canada and Whataburger took part in a 30-day pilot programme and experienced “increased incremental sales and customer growth”.
European players are also starting to seize the opportunity. For example, UK neobank Revolut has been quite vocal: Head of Growth Antoine Le Nel told the Financial Times, “We could become a media business… a place where you have an audience and data about the audience and you monetise this.”
Since then, Revolut has hired Inam Mahmood, former head of e-commerce partnerships at TikTok UK, to spearhead the venture. They reportedly have an internal target of £300 million in revenue by 2026.
In France, BoursoBank entered the financial media network space, first through The Corner in 2021, a loyalty and benefits platform that reached €300 million in transactions in 2023, thanks to its fluid and integrated user journey. Second, they announced the “VIP” programme, giving selected partners access to the data of The Corner’s then 570,000 subscribers, enabling them to present customers with attractive offers tailored to individual profiles. In short, this represents a unique approach in the European banking ecosystem.
Leveraging financial media networks
In view of the above, more banks should investigate how they can leverage financial media networks effectively. In particular, they need to think about how they can provide attractive value propositions to complementary groups: consumers and advertisers.
1. Consumers
Banks should take a different approach to retail, because traditional ads may be off-putting in a financial services environment. Therefore, they should focus on formats that offer more purchasing power – for instance, automatic cashback based on purchases with a brand, or personalised rewards like discounts at certain shops for specific customers.
Even more importantly, banks need to maintain customer trust. As such, FMNs need to comply fully with current and evolving security, privacy, and consent regulations, and how that’s achieved needs to be transparent.
2. Advertisers
To be successful in this new business, banks need to provide advertisers with advanced algorithmic and data analytics tools to define their digital campaigns and select the right audiences. They also need to deliver customised content and ensure proper marketing attribution and campaign reporting. Last but not least, banks need to offer these services in ways that online brands are already used to.
Continuing evolution of financial media networks
The move towards financial media networks is underway, with market leaders like Chase in the US, BoursoBank in France, and Revolut in the UK already making headway. Like retail media, the trend could become widespread, meriting serious consideration. A classic question to mull over is, “Build, buy, or partner?” With that in mind, we’ll follow up with an interview with the co-founder of PayLead, a French fintech specialising in helping banks enter the financial media network landscape.