Mastercard described holiday incentives across six US cities on December 13, 2021. New Orleans used gift-card awards, while other locations offered purchase rebates or receipt-based prize draws. The distinction matters because an advertised percentage, a gift-card face value and a raffle entry measure different things. [1] [2]

Local reward terms and what the evidence can establish

In Los Angeles and New York, purchases at more than 750 participating businesses qualified for a 20% statement credit until December 31, 2021 or exhaustion of each market’s $100,000 allocation. Separately, eligible San Diego and Pittsburgh cardholders received 2% cash back plus specified programme bonuses through Mastercard Local and participating credit unions. [1]

The data behind the story

Two purchase-based rates in Mastercard’s 2021 local campaigns

Different local programmes used different purchase-based incentives; merchant and card eligibility were programme-specific.

percent
Source
Mastercard, December 13, 2021

Historical advertised rates, not observed customer earnings or a performance ranking. The20% programme had city allocations and an expiry; the2% programme also mentioned additional bonuses. Gift-card awards were a separate mechanism.

Show data tableHide data table
Scroll left or right to see all columns
Two purchase-based rates in Mastercard’s 2021 local campaigns (percent)
CategoryAnnounced rate on eligible purchases
Los Angeles and New York: statement credit20 percent
San Diego and Pittsburgh: cash back2 percent

For New Orleans, Mastercard said 50 participating merchants in seven neighborhoods would each receive a $200 gift card to award to a selected customer before year-end. That describes the planned award structure. It does not establish how many awards were delivered or the spending they generated. [1]

Birmingham’s mechanism was different. Reporting by Ryan Michaels in The Birmingham Times on November 30, 2021 described a campaign led by Urban Impact with Mastercard and the city, using uploaded or texted receipts from local Black-owned businesses to qualify for prize drawings. The reported shopping period ran through January 1, 2022, with drawings on December 17 and January 4. This local reporting corroborates the campaign mechanism without establishing its eventual results. [2]

The Mastercard survey accompanying the launch reported 73% interest in giving gifts supporting local businesses and 70% in receiving them. Its methodology describes 4,000 adults across the US and Canada, all credit-card users likely to shop during the holidays, surveyed November 23 to December 1, 2021. The release does not supply the US subgroup size, full questionnaire or weighting detail, so those intentions are not treated as measured campaign response. [1]

The reviewed sources document offer design and planned campaign activity. They do not supply comparable redeemed-credit totals, completed gift-card awards or incremental merchant sales. The historical rates therefore remain tied to their locations and periods, with no claim that these offers are currently available. [1] [2]