Mastercard International Incorporated and its affiliates (collectively, “Mastercard”) respect your privacy.
This Global Cookie and Tracker Notice explains how Mastercard uses Cookies on websites, applications, and other online environments globally (“Sites”) and Email Trackers in emails we send.
It should be read alongside information provided through our consent management tool or “cookie banner” (“Consent Tool”) on Sites. This Notice, together with our Consent Tool, explains the types of Cookies we use, why we use them, and the choices available to you. The Consent Tool provides the most current, Site-specific details, including the Cookies used on the corresponding Site.
This Notice applies only to “Mastercard-provided Sites,” meaning Sites that Mastercard owns or operates and makes available directly to users. Sites provided by our clients or partners are outside the scope of this Notice unless the Consent Tool for that Site indicates that this Notice applies.
If a Site is provided to you by one of our clients or partners, and the Consent Tool on that Site indicates that Mastercard manages Cookies and Trackers for the Site (but does not process any other Personal Information as controller), that client or partner acts as the data controller for all processing activities that do not involve the use of Cookies and Trackers.
To learn more about our broader privacy practices, please see our Global Privacy Notice. If a Site has its own privacy notice, please refer to that notice instead.
1. What are Cookies and Trackers?
A "cookie” is a text file placed on a computer’s hard drive by a web server. A “web beacon” (also known as an Internet tag, pixel tag or clear GIF), is a technology that helps website and app providers identify when content has been accessed or visited. A Software Development Kit (“SDK”) is a set of tools and code provided by a service or platform that is integrated into a Site. In this Notice, we use the terms:
- “Cookies” to refer to cookies, pixel tags, SDKs, web beacons, and any other online tracking technologies we use on Sites.
- “Email Trackers” to refer to tracking technologies we embed in emails and which generally take the form of a small image file (tracking pixel, web beacon or clear GIF) or a tagged link that loads or redirects when you open an email or click on its content.
“Session” refers to the period during which a user interacts with a Site (which can end when the user closes their browser or after a specified period of inactivity).
“Personal Information” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. Information collected by Cookies does not always meet the definition of Personal Information, depending on applicable privacy laws.
2. The Types of Cookies We Use
We use Cookies, including Cookies provided by third parties, to improve our Sites, measure the performance of our Sites, understand our audience, enhance the user experience, and to show ads based on browsing habits and activity on the Sites and other Sites.
First-party Cookies are Cookies placed by the Site you are using (for example, by us). Third-party Cookies are Cookies provided by other companies, such as our analytics or advertising partners, and may be placed or accessed through our Sites either on our behalf or for purposes determined by those parties.
The Cookies used on a particular Site are listed in that Site’s Consent Tool.
For ease of understanding, we group Cookies into the following categories:
- Essential Cookies. These Cookies are necessary for the Site to work properly and cannot be disabled. These Cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility.
- Functional Cookies. These Cookies enable our Sites to remember choices you make, for example, the language you select, or to enable services, such as viewing videos. These Cookies allow us to tailor the Sites to you and provide enhanced functionality. Without these Cookies, certain functionalities may not be available.
- Performance Cookies. These Cookies help improve our Site by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. This information enables us to improve site performance, correct any errors, and provide a quality user experience. For instance, it helps us understand how long you spend on the Site and from where you are accessing it. It also helps us see if you have visited our Sites before so we can identify the number of unique users we receive.
- Advertising Cookies. These Cookies are used to analyze your interests and preferences to show you relevant ads on this Site and other Sites and provide a personalized marketing experience. They may be placed through our Site by third-party data, social media, or advertising companies that we partner with. They can also help us measure and improve advertising campaigns, including by understanding how users interact with ads and marketing content and by creating or using audience segments for advertising or measurement purposes.
We generally ask for your consent to place non-Essential Cookies on our Sites. Click ‘Cookies Details’ under the Cookie names shown for each category in the Cookie Tool to learn more.
Email Trackers
We use Email Trackers in some of the emails we send, such as newsletters, service updates, and other communications where permitted by applicable law. Email Trackers help us understand whether our messages are delivered successfully, whether they are opened or interacted with, and whether there are issues — such as deliverability problems or unusual activity — that require attention.
We use information collected by Email Trackers to:
- confirm emails are delivered correctly, to maintain security (for example, helping verify that an account-related email is opened on a recognised device).
- understand whether our communications are effective, improving our content.
- manage or protect our email services.
3. How We May Use and Share Personal Information We Collect using Cookies and Trackers
Essential Cookies
Essential or ‘strictly necessary’ Cookies typically collect technical and session information required for the Site to work properly, such as:
- unique session identifiers,
- authentication tokens,
- security event data (e.g., anomaly, fraud, or bot detection signals),
- load-balancing or routing identifiers,
- basic device/browser metadata necessary to deliver the Site,
- preferences needed to maintain your session (e.g., cookie consent state).
Functional Cookies
Functional Cookies may collect information about:
- your saved preferences (such as language, region, accessibility settings, or display configuration);
- previous interactions with the Site (e.g., whether you completed an onboarding step or dismissed an informational banner);
- a device- or browser-level identifier that allows us to recognise your browser when you return;
- limited profile-linked identifiers where required to provide a personalised experience on Sites that require login (e.g., tying a preference to a user account).
Performance Cookies
Performance Cookies and collect information that helps us understand how visitors use and interact with our Sites. This may include:
- unique identifiers and session details,
- pages viewed and navigation paths,
- clicks and other on-site interactions,
- time spent on pages and visit frequency,
- device and browser characteristics,
- screen resolution,
- referring URLs,
- approximate location inferred from IP address, and
- other technical signals needed to measure performance, diagnose issues, and analyse how features and content are used across our Sites.
Advertising Cookies
Advertising Cookies can perform the same functions as Analytics Cookies, and they are also used by us and third parties to help show you relevant ads on our Sites and other Sites. They may collect and use additional information related to how you interact with ads and marketing content. This can include:
- actions you take that indicate your interests and activities, such as form submissions, downloads or sign-ups,
- campaign-specific identifiers added to URLs or Cookies to attribute your activity to a particular advertisement,
- ad click information, including click IDs generated by third-party platforms,
- engagement with marketing content, such as which ads you viewed or interacted with, and
- membership in audience segments created for advertising or measurement purposes.
Cookies of third-party advertising partners on our Sites may permit these partners to combine information collected about you or your device while visiting our Sites with information they obtain from other Sources.
Google and our other advertising partners may independently determine how they use information collected about you or your device by their Cookies on our Sites. See their privacy notices for more information.
- Google may collect or receive information from our Sites and use it as an independent controller for personalisation of ads, measurement, reporting and to improve its products. You can learn how Google processes information it collects through our Sites, including the purposes for which it uses such information, in Google’s Privacy Policy and documentation for users in the EEA/UK.
- We act as a joint controller with Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. under the Meta Business Tools Terms for the collection of Event Data (as defined in the Meta Business Tools Terms) through the Meta Pixel and its transmission to Meta. Information required under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) relating to Meta Ireland’s processing and your rights is available in the Meta Privacy Policy.
4. Our Legal Bases for Processing Personal Information using Cookies and Trackers and Email Trackers
We only process Personal Information collected using Cookies and Email Trackers where this is permitted under applicable laws in the country where you are located, and only where we have a legal basis for doing so. Because global privacy laws differ, the legal basis we rely on may vary by jurisdiction and by the type of Cookie or Email Tracker used.
In some countries, consent is required before placing or accessing certain non-essential Cookies or before using certain Email Trackers for functionality, performance, or advertising. In those countries, Mastercard relies on your consent. In other countries, we may rely on additional or alternative legal bases as described below.
| | Processing Activity | Legal Basis for Processing (where required under applicable law) |
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| | Using Performance, Functional, and Advertising Cookies to understand how users interact with our Sites, to personalize content, or to measure and improve campaigns. This includes any use of Email Trackers for functionality, performance, or advertising-related purposes where consent is required. | - Your consent to the placement of the Cookie and the related use of your Personal Information, where required by law (including EU ePrivacy rules).
- In countries permitting this without consent, we may rely on our legitimate interests in understanding and improving how users engage with our Sites, products, or communications, provided these interests are not overriden by your privacy rights under applicable law.
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| | Activities to help the Site to function properly and securely, including supporting registration, authentication, fraud prevention, and login functionalities. | - Necessary for performance of a contract (where we use Cookies to support registration or login processes initiated by you).
- Legitimate interests in measures intended to provide a reliable, secure Site experience and preventing fraud or misuse.
- Compliance with a legal obligation, where certain security related or auditing activities are mandated by applicable law.
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| | Using Cookies that support system integrity, detect technical issues, or measure deliverability or system performance (including certain Email Trackers used for security, authentication, or deliverability diagnostics). | - Legitimate interests in measures intended to promote the security and stability of our Sites, systems, and communications.
- Compliance with legal or regulatory obligation relating to security and fraud prevention.
- Consent, where required under applicable law for any technology that stores or accesses information on your device.
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