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I was at an American Express event yesterday and thought I'd share a couple of thing I heard/saw. They highlighted the fact that they know more about people than most other corporations because they were a network and card issuer. Interesting tidbits from the Big Data group within AMEX Technologies:
1) They are able to collect up to 400 pieces of data per transaction
2) Some merchants will in addition provide SKUs.
3) They will get things like destination for a swipe in a taxi
I got a look at some of their internal analytics applications:
4) AMEX customers' largest preferred restaurant type is "American." :-)
5) AMEX customers are big seafood eaters! :-)
6) One of their applications took in an AMEX card number and it immediately spit out classifications of spending patterns and guesses of interests: it was 2/3. One of them was just inaccurate. Neverthless, the others were accurate and it's amusing to see they were able to somehow put it together.
I got a kick out of it - thought I should post about it here!
That is pretty interesting...one of the advantages of being both the issuer and the network....you can get all kinds of dirt on folks. lol
Thanks for sharing. I'm not surprised. Data mining is a big industry these days, and I'm not surprised that Amex is squeezing the last little piece of information that they possibly can out of a transaction. Hmmmm... I wonder if this means they know exactly what size and color t-shirt I bought from the museum gift shop during my recent trip to NY?
Thanks for sharing, they must have a huge data center
@tinuviel wrote:Thanks for sharing. I'm not surprised. Data mining is a big industry these days, and I'm not surprised that Amex is squeezing the last little piece of information that they possibly can out of a transaction. Hmmmm... I wonder if this means they know exactly what size and color t-shirt I bought from the museum gift shop during my recent trip to NY?
LOL Tinu...I wouldn't be surprised. AMEX bills already show things like Flight Information, how much your gas was per gallon and the quantity, and how much of a tip you left at your favorite restaurant. This will happen one day, I bet. lol.
Not surprised but interesting to read! Like Google, not sure if it is a good or bad thing
@GoldenloveNY wrote:
You mean to tell me that Amex knows exactly what I bought in a Adult store last night, every detail or even the name of the girl I like the most in a NYC strip club ? Holy crap...I feel so dirty and shameful....:/ I feel invaded...I hate myself...:/
I know, right?
The guy saw somewhat astonished face when he said some merchants now provide SKUs. I didn't expect them to have an itemized list of what I was buying. I very apprehensively put in my number into their application (with others telling me later that they were holding their breath)... who knows what would have come up... but I had to give it a try. Too good an opportunity to pass up!