The news: Citi launched Citi Commerce Media, per a press release.

Advertisers can tap data from Citi’s more than 70 million US consumers and their 6.5 billion annual transactions for targeted advertising. Citi consumers will be able to access tailored rewards and offers through their bank app.  

The financial media network (FMN) is powered in part by Kard, the rewards platform Citi acquired in August.

How we got here: Payment providers have been fleshing out their advertising offerings.

American Express and Mastercard were among the first financial incumbents to launch media networks last year.

Fintechs have been offering more developed programs: PayPal, Western Union, Chase, and Klarna debuted networks over two years ago.

Why this matters: Financial media network ad spending will exceed $3 billion by 2028, per our forecast. 

FMNs may not be the largest non-retail commerce networks, but we forecast they will grow at an explosive 77.3% compounded annually between 2023 and 2028—versus just 21.2% for the similarly sized travel media network segment.

Citi has an opportunity to seize on advertisers’ desire for attributed transaction data that payment providers hold; commerce media networks can only showcase data held from the merchant side. 

Implications for payment providers: Advertiser demand for FMN ad space is growing as marketers seek transaction data that can make their ad placements more effective. 

To secure more ad spending, providers need to:

• Place FMNs closer to the beginning of the purchase journey through partnerships outside of their banking apps, which fail to generate the engagement often wanted from advertisers.
• Make FMN data more accessible for partners while ensuring privacy.
• Pitch FMNs unique strengths, like visibility into consumers’ purchase behavior beyond one retailer.

Go deeper: Read The State of Financial Media Networks 2026 to learn about how financial institutions are turning data into advertising scale.