MasterCard has acquired acquisition of Truaxis (formerly BillShrink). Financial terms were not disclosed. The company had raised $9 million in funding from Trinity Ventures and Bessemer.
BillShrink originally launched as a cost-cutting engine for consumers. The startup helps users save money across verticals including cell phones, credit cards, cable bills and savings accounts. The startup pivoted into the personalized offers and loyalty rewards space, renaming itself Truaxis (but still retaining the cost-cutting consumer focused service). Truaxis allows merchants to target offers to pre-selected consumer profiles.
Basically, the startup uses use transaction data sets to enhance relationships between financial institutions, businesses, merchants and their customers.Called StatementRewards, Truaxis allows fr personalized services off of bank customers’ transaction information — securely, and without the use of personally identifiable information. The service will identify relevant rewards and value added services from an individual’s favorite merchants. For bank customers, StatementRewards aims to take the guesswork out of traditional loyalty programs. The company offers geo-location features, monthly bill analysis, merchant-level spend summaries, social benchmarking and other personalization services.
BillShrink itself has helped 1.6 million Americans find potential savings of more than $1 billion.
As MasterCard says in a release: The integration of the Truaxis platform with the MasterCard network will allow for real-time offer delivery coupled with advanced analytics to ensure consumers get more meaningful offers, merchants gain efficiencies in driving sales and financial institutions build greater loyalty with customers.
“The offer and rewards industry is rapidly evolving as consumers have demonstrated their
desire for customized offers and savings that truly matter to their individual lifestyles,” said
Tim Murphy, chief product officer, MasterCard. “By adding Truaxis’ expertise, its intellectual
property and a talented team of software engineers to MasterCard, we increase our capabilities
to offer merchants and financial institutions a solution that helps them better connect with
consumers while evolving the model from the traditional coupon or daily deals offers programs
that are popular today.”