Mastercard has unveiled Smart Subscriptions, a groundbreaking subscription management solution powered by open banking technology, designed to seamlessly integrate into consumer banking applications. This innovative solution offers enhanced transparency into financial wellness, empowering consumers to manage their recurring subscriptions effortlessly while providing financial institutions with tools to drive loyalty and engagement.

Smart Subscriptions go beyond basic management functions, offering individual spend analysis, expenditure categorization, and personalized offers within a single user-friendly interface. Leveraging Mastercard’s Subscriptions Control solution introduced in 2023, Smart Subscriptions enables consumers to cancel, pause, and resume their subscriptions with ease.

Raj Seshadri, President of Data & Services at Mastercard, emphasized the importance of simplicity and seamlessness in managing recurring subscriptions. “No matter how many services you pay for, managing those recurring subscriptions should be simple and seamless,” stated Seshadri. “Smart Subscriptions acts on that insight, meeting the standards for effortless engagement that both banks and consumers demand. And when those standards are met, the true metric of success is loyalty.”

Based on a Mastercard survey revealing consumer preferences, Smart Subscriptions addresses the growing demand for tools to identify, track, cancel, or renew subscriptions. By leveraging Mastercard’s open banking technology provided by its U.S. arm Finicity, Smart Subscriptions connects multiple accounts into one central hub, offering consumers a comprehensive view of their financial activities.

The white-labeled, payment- and network-agnostic solution is tailored to allow any bank to implement it seamlessly with a single API, minimizing integration efforts. Financial institutions stand to benefit from increased loyalty, engagement, and reduced chargebacks, while consumers gain access to a simplified interface that provides insights into their financial wellness and personalized offers.

With Smart Subscriptions, consumers gain visibility into individual subscription activities, upcoming bills, and detailed payment history, facilitating better management of transactions. Moreover, personalized insights and tailored merchant offers enable consumers to deepen their connection with their financial institution and save money on purchases from their preferred merchants, directly within their banking app.

Currently undergoing piloting in the U.S., Mastercard’s Smart Subscriptions is set to bridge the gap between comprehensive subscription management and personalized offers, catering to the evolving needs of consumers and financial institutions. The solution is expected to roll out to additional markets later this year, offering a transformative experience in subscription management within the banking sector.