Talk Money Café

I’m not talking about banner ads, skyscraper ads, or any shiny buttons.  These ads are integrated with an online credit card statement.  They target individual, specific credit card purchases and transactions.

I first noticed this method of advertising when viewing a Citi Cards statement online.  I have included some example screenshots below for your reference.

Screenshot 1A

Screenshot 1B

Screenshot 2A

Screenshot 2B

You can’t see it from these screenshots, but there is a [+] sign to the far left of each transaction.  When 1A and 2A are expanded (by clicking on the [+] sign), a full text ad appears with a link, as shown in 1B and 2B.

In the first two screenshots (1A and 1B), you’ll notice that there was a purchase of an e-book.  The corresponding advertisement is for free shipping from Barnes & Noble.  This assumes that, considering the fact that I purchased and downloaded an e-book online, I might be interested in buying a hard copy of a book if there’s free shipping … makes sense and seems relevant.

In the last two screenshots (2A and 2B), you’ll notice that there was a transaction at The Turning Point.  Note that The Turning Point is the name of a restaurant.  Keeping this in mind, the corresponding advertisement is for a Credit Protector program.  In the event that someone was to be suddenly hospitalized, unemployed, homeless, or otherwise unable to make credit card payments, these payments would be cancelled or deferred under the Credit Protector arrangement.

The funny part about this is that they seemed to take “The Turning Point” literally.  Maybe they were figuring that, if I was at a turning point in my life, I might be experiencing financial difficulties.  (If it was known that The Turning Point was a restaurant, then the advertisement may have been about dining or something relevant to eating out.)

These ads seem to rotate at times, too.  For example, when I checked my credit card statement online yesterday, there were targeted ads for two different transactions.  One of those ads was in response to a Wegmans transaction (Wegmans is a supermarket for those of you who aren’t familiar with it) – the advertisement was for Mrs. Fields cookies.  Maybe it was assumed that, if I shopped at a supermarket, I might be interested in purchasing Mrs. Fields Cookies online or even offline (e.g. in a grocery store).

This is the first time I’ve noticed this particular form of advertising.  Do you think that it’s an effective means of target marketing?  Does it have the potential to generate substantial revenue?  Share your thoughts.