Next Jump Takes Over MasterCard's New Rewards Program, MasterCard MarketPlace

MasterCard’s customer rewards program just got a major upgrade. As part of a deep, three-year partnership with NYC-startup Next Jump, the credit card organization just launched MasterCard Marketplace. Any cardholder can go to the site and sign up for discounts on electronics, computers, clothing, jewelry, and other products from thousands of merchants and manufacturers. Next Jump will operate the program on behalf of MasterCard, and help it advance its overall e-commerce strategy in other ways as well.

While it is not a very high-profile company, Next Jump already powers the employee discount and rewards programs for 90,000 companies, including 60 percent of the Fortune 500. Next Jump also powers Overwhelming Offers and Yahoo’s Daily Deals. It’s raised $45 million, and early Google investor Ram Shriram sits on its board. (Read my earlier profile for more details).

Next Jump takes an algorithmic approach to reward both good shoppers and good deals. In the MasterCard Marketplace, consumers can rate offers, set alerts, and get ranked based on how much they shop. Each offer, in turn, is also ranked base don its conversion rates. Next Jump has put together a network of 28,000 merchants. They are encouraged to offer products at a discount in return for gaining access to highly-motivated shoppers.

In this day and age, everyone wants a special deal. (Note the rise of group discount and flash sale sites). Now everyone with a MasterCard can feel a little extra special.