Mastercard and its initiative have revolutionized the way we see and understand our transactional data: The AN 4569 Mandate. Believe me, it’s more important than it looks at first glance. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to comply with the regulations set by this financial services giant.
What is the AN 4569 Mandate and why should you care?
It is a regulation that requires payment service providers in Europe to improve the quality and presentation of transaction data. The goal? To give users access to clear, accurate, and complete information about each of their payments.
Imagine that now, instead of seeing a simple label “Company X” in the payment description, your bank is able to display the real name of the merchant, its location, the type of product or service it sells, and even the carbon footprint associated with its consumption. Sounds good, right?
The AN 4569 Mandate and transaction data enrichment
“An Issuer must provide to a Cardholder enhanced Merchant data (…), to help them recognize a Transaction when it is queried by the Cardholder. Such enhanced Merchant data includes, (…) the Merchant’s public facing or ‘doing business as’ name, location, contact details and logo. The Issuer must provide the enhanced Merchant data using the Issuer’s banking application, mobile wallet, Internet banking interface, or other digital means that provides at least equivalent ease and accessibility for the Cardholder.”
Mastercard Rules, January 9, 2025.
Main obligations under the Mastercard mandate
- Enriched merchant information: Banks are required to offer complete details about the merchant.
- Accuracy and consistency of data: The data provided must be accurate, consistent, and kept up to date at all times.
- Standards for data presentation: The information must be displayed clearly and accessibly in bank statements, digital platforms, and apps.
- Protection of sensitive information: It is essential to ensure the confidentiality and security of sensitive merchant-related data.
What happens if we ignore Mastercard’s AN 4569 mandate?
Spoiler: nothing good. AN 4569 isn’t just a random number—it’s a key Mastercard mandate that, if overlooked, can bring more than just a headache. Classified as a Category B violation, it refers to rule breaches that are visible to customers.
And when the user experience takes a hit, consequences aren’t far behind: from financial penalties to a potential erosion of brand trust. Mastercard can impose fines (up to $100,000!) or—if you’re lucky—offer a short window to fix the issue before pulling out the calculator.
Want to turn this challenge into an opportunity? Keep reading…
Traditional banking vs. Mastercard: How to take advantage of this opportunity
Why is Mastercard doing this? The answer is simple: to improve the customer experience and reduce claims for incorrect charges. When a user understands what they are paying for, they are less likely to file a claim with the bank. This translates into reduced operational costs for institutions and increased trust in the payment system.
Make no mistake – the AN 4569 Mandate goes far beyond a simple aesthetic improvement. By enriching transactional data, a world of possibilities opens up in terms of fraud detection, consumption pattern analysis, and the personalization of financial services. Below we explain in detail what this new regulation implies.
The challenge for traditional banking
For many financial institutions, complying with the AN 4569 Mandate won’t be an easy task. Their payment processing systems are not prepared to capture and transmit the additional information required by the regulation.
Moreover, ensuring the quality and accuracy of the data is a challenge in itself. Imagine the number of errors and inconsistencies that can be generated when processing millions of transactions a day…
Fintech to the rescue: How we turn your data into gold
There’s still hope. At Coinscrap Finance, we’re here to lend a hand. We specialize in transactional data enrichment and offer innovative solutions that can help your bank comply with the AN 4569 Mandate efficiently and profitably.
How do we do it? We use our own artificial intelligence engine, affectionately nicknamed “COCO”, which analyzes thousands of data points in seconds to identify, categorize, and enrich the information of each bank transaction. This is what we offer to banks:
- Enrich the information: We add additional data to transactions, such as the merchant’s name and logo, its MCC code, the category and subcategory it belongs to, its location, contact information, and even the carbon footprint associated with the purchase.
- Hyper-personalize the customer experience: Users want unique experiences tailored to their preferences. Displaying clear, detailed, and easy-to-understand information about their payments increases satisfaction and ensures retention. Many of your clients will become brand ambassadors!
- Improve the accuracy of your data: We detect and eliminate errors, ensuring that the information is 100% truthful and reliable. This prevents misunderstandings and costs associated with chargebacks. If you need to improve your operational efficiency, here is the solution.
Real-life cases that will leave you speechless
To give you an idea of the potential of transactional data enrichment, let us show you some use cases we’ve worked on:
- Banks that implemented these types of solutions managed to reduce disputes over questionable charges by 25%. In addition, customer engagement improved by receiving clearer and more detailed information about their transactions.
- Transactional data analysis helped identify fraud patterns and prevent million-dollar losses. Thanks to enriched information, we can detect suspicious transactions and alert the bank to block them before they are completed.
- Our Fintech developed a financial insights module that allows users to receive personalized recommendations on how to save money and manage their household finances. The key to this tool’s success lies in the enrichment of transactional data.
VISA and American Express also embrace bank data enrichment
While Mastercard moves forward with the AN 4569 Mandate, its competitors are not far behind. Both VISA and American Express are implementing strategies to improve the quality of the information shown in transactions. Above all, they aim to prevent fraud and improve customer experience.
VISA, for example, has developed its “Merchant Search” API, which allows issuers to turn confusing names into clear, detailed information about merchants, helping users recognize their purchases. Just by opening the bank app and seeing the charge description, they know exactly where they spent!
Meanwhile, American Express has been investing for years in artificial intelligence and machine learning to prevent fraud. Its “Enhanced Authorization” system analyzes thousands of data points in real time, such as IP addresses, email addresses, and shipping locations, to determine whether a transaction is legitimate.
Both companies are proving that enriched transactional data is not just a European trend. It is a global need that is transforming the financial industry.
Mastercard regulations in other parts of the world
Although the AN 4569 Mandate is focused on Europe, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it cross the Atlantic and land in Latin America. The region has its own cocktail of challenges: high fraud rates, uneven technological infrastructure, and a financial market in the midst of a digital boom. However, these same challenges make it the ideal place to adopt similar standards.
For example, countries like Brazil and Mexico have already launched initiatives to improve the understanding of transactional data. Mastercard has carried out pilot tests in these markets aimed at reducing disputes between customers and merchants. Additionally, local fintechs are playing a key role by integrating technologies such as predictive analytics to further personalize the user experience.
The global adoption of standards similar to Mastercard’s Mandate will depend on several factors: the interest in improving transparency in payments, the commitment to innovation, and agreements between key players in the financial ecosystem.
Don’t stay stuck in the Stone Age — join the Fintech innovation!
The AN 4569 Mandate is just the beginning of a revolution in how we understand and use transactional data. If financial institutions adapt to these requirements, they will not only be able to continue working with Mastercard, but they will also be offering an outstanding customer experience, including:
- Greater personalization of financial services: Banks will have the capacity to use enriched information to offer products and services tailored to the needs and preferences of each client.
- More sophisticated fraud detection: Transaction data analysis will allow the identification of more complex fraud patterns and help prevent increasingly advanced attacks, such as identity theft.
- Discovery of new business opportunities: Enriched information will open the door to new business models based on data analysis and its ability to detect upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
Are you ready for the transactional data revolution?
This regulation is a great opportunity, and Fintech companies are here to help you make the most of it. Coinscrap Finance has been enriching information for years for major institutions such as Banco Santander, Ibercaja, Bankinter, ABANCA, Unicaja, and B100, among others.
We encourage you to explore the possibilities offered by transactional data enrichment. Technology turns your data into value, helping banks offer more personalized and secure experiences. If you’re still hesitating, remember: the future of banking won’t wait.
Are you going to stay behind — or lead the change?
