Mastercard's Big Data for Good Initiative: Data Philanthropy on the Front Lines

Much has been written about big data initiatives and the efforts of market leaders to derive critical business insights faster. Less has been written about initiatives by some of these same firms to apply big data and analytics to a different set of issues, which are not solely focused on revenue growth or bottom line profitability. While the focus of most writing has been on the use of data for competitive advantage, a small set of companies has been undertaking, with much less fanfare, a range of initiatives designed to ensure that data can be applied not just for corporate good, but also for social good.

One such firm is Mastercard, which describes itself as a technology company in the payments industry, which connects buyers and sellers in 210 countries and territories across the globe. In 2013, Mastercard launched the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, which operates as an independent subsidiary of Mastercard and is focused on the application of data to a range of issues for social benefit.

In an interview with Shamina Singh, president of the Mastercard Center, Ms. Singh described some of the initiatives that the Center is undertaking to address issues of social benefit and social good. According to Ms. Singh, the mission of the Mastercard Center is “to deploy Mastercard data assets for positive social impact.”