Background&Context

Mastercard operates in the business of trust. Running a B2B2C business model is vital to build long-lasting relationships with banks and merchants to be able to fulfill Mastercard’s meaningful role, connecting everyone to priceless possibilities. Moreover, in order for the network to run effectively, Mastercard needs a trustworthy relationship with administration, back then it was conservative one.

At the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Polish society was already deeply divided by previous decisions of the government that often took nationalistic turns. Refugee crisis could worsen the matter. But Mastercard acts from a neutral position and offers solutions that can support the network of business partners, including administration.

Following Mastercard’s principle of “Doing well, by doing good”, we decided to act quickly and create a tool that directly helps refugees to find new places to settle in Poland and enable their financial inclusion. This is how WhereToSettle was born.

Creative Challenge

Very early in the process, we saw the unlimited potential of the platform. It became clear that it could work both for the refugees and Polish communities.

Many of the 10mio refugees who have crossed Polish borders, sought shelter in major Polish cities which were already overcrowded. This influx was causing rent hikes and work market saturation amidst an unprecedented rise in inflation.

At the same time small towns in Poland were suffering from depopulation, as young people moved to bigger cities - becoming a burning issue for the Polish Government. Smaller cities need the infusion of people and have existing infrastructure waiting to be utilized, but 34% of refugees were unable to decide where to live in Poland and to map out opportunities.

Typical data problem: the people who needed information the most did not have easy access to it.

Solution&Execution

The breakthrough moment was the idea to marry refugees’ needs with those of local communities. WhereToSettle empowers refugees while boosting the growth of smaller towns. Driven by Mastercard's anonymized transaction data, the platform then combines data on average salaries for job segments and provinces from the Central Statistics Office, and data on housing prices provided by partners. Tool shows approximate earnings versus expenses report for prospective locations based on the unique needs of the refugee and their family. Immediately after providing the user with suggestions of regions and towns, the tool supplemented it with live-feed of housing and job offers in those exact locations. That way, the user got a complete and personalized recommendation to proceed with.

To give the smaller towns even more space to promote, we’ve created a targeted Digital and SoMe campaign. A series of short videos featuring the local reps of smaller towns in Poland reinterpreted the social challenge once more. They invited refugees and showed them the hotspots from each area. We have designed all the creatives in UA and PL and delivered customized versions through social feeds. The platform was promoted among the refugees staying in major cities and to people engaged in refugee rescue across the country.