Mastercard's 2021 local-shopping campaigns included gift card rewards

Mastercard announced holiday shopping incentives across six U.S. cities on December 13, 2021. Its accompanying survey found 73% of respondents wanted to give gifts supporting local businesses and 70% wanted to receive them.

The New Orleans program supplied 50 participating businesses with a $200 gift card each to award to a customer before year-end. It formed part of an initiative covering seven neighborhoods identified by the company as facing disinvestment.