Mastercard to acquire Dynamic Yield from McDonald's

Mastercard will acquire personalisation platform Dynamic Yield from McDonald’s, the company announced Tuesday. 

McDonald’s had acquired the platform in 2019, though it continued to operate as a standalone company. Dynamic Yield helped McDonald’s provide personalised offers for customers in stores.

Mastercard will integrate Dynamic Yield’s suite of services globally to help brands deliver personalised experiences to their customers. McDonald’s, a long-standing payment and service customer of Mastercard, will continue to use Dynamic Yield services through Mastercard’s SessionM, the customer engagement and loyalty platform it acquired in 2019, and various test and learn programs. 

“We enable billions of consumers to connect with their banks and merchants and [vice versa], and the reality is that with the shift to digital and the amount of data that's available today, [people] want more personalised experiences,” said Raj Seshadri, president of data and services at Mastercard.

“There's a need for contextual engagement and that’s our strategy.”

Despite selling the business, McDonald’s still plans to further integrate Dynamic Yield’s capabilities globally and across ordering channels. 

“Digital technology remains a key part of McDonald’s growth plan, Accelerating the Arches, to optimise and personalise the restaurant experience, no matter how customers choose to enjoy McDonald’s,” a company spokesperson said in an email. “The investments we’ve made in digital, including our acquisition of Dynamic Yield and the deployment of its technology to kiosks and drive thrus, have already allowed us to improve the customer experience and enhance the ordering process in several markets across the world.”

“We remain confident that personalisation technology is part of our journey to drive unparalleled customer-centric innovation and are pleased that Dynamic Yield will be integrated into Mastercard’s data and services team, as we work together to further scale this technology to additional markets,” the spokesperson continued. “We will continue to invest in solutions to create a best-in-class digital experience and look forward to our continued strategic relationship with both Dynamic Yield and Mastercard.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022, though terms of the deal were not disclosed. Upon closing, Dynamic Yield chief technology officer Ori Bauer will becomeCEO. Liad Agmon, currently CEO, will stay on in an advisory capacity.