Consumer Edge

Years Available: From January 2014 with ongoing updates.

What Is Included: Consumer Edge receives data directly from card issuers and processors based on the transactions occurring over their networks. These data track the transactions reported for the millions of included cards. 

Transaction Information: These files include the dates of each transaction, the amount spent, and IDs linking the transaction to the cardholder and merchant where the purchase took place.

Cardholder Information: These files contain a unique ID of the card member account, the first three digits of the cardholder鈥檚 ZIP code, the type of card (credit, debit, prepaid, or unknown), and the Core-Based Statistical Area code corresponding to US government definitions of metro- and micropolitan areas.

Merchant Information: These files have information about each merchant, including their city, state, and ZIP code, a unique merchant ID, and merchant descriptions of transactions (as they appear in card statements).

Types of files: Consumer Edge data is available as Parquet files.

• Once you submit your project proposal, Consumer Edge’s analytics and research leaders will have up to 14 days to review. They may reach out for further documentation or clarification on research aims, approach, or data needs. If denied, the Kilts Center will contact you directly to collaborate on revisions for re-evaluation. 
• Researchers may only use the data for strictly academic research projects focused on important issues of wide and general interest.
• Narrowly focused projects on subjects of interest only to specific industries or firms may be declined by Consumer Edge.
• Every researcher who will access the data must register with the Kilts Center a detailed description of each project. Each paper a researcher anticipates writing should be its own project.
• Researchers must disclose any changes to their project scope, coauthors, or funding sources during the course of their research.
• Every researcher must review and update each project on an annual basis. 

• Use of the Consumer Edge data for consulting purposes of any kind, including litigation support, is strictly prohibited.
• Projects with the primary purpose of evaluating Consumer Edge’s data-collection approach or methodologies will not be approved.
• Researchers may not share or upload Consumer Edge’s data to any third party, including any generative artificial intelligence tools (e.g., ChatGPT), which is prohibited.
• Researchers must not disclose any personally identifiable information (PII) about customers or details that would permit the re-identification of Consumer Edge’s customers.
• Researchers cannot attempt to identify the origin or sources of any Consumer Edge’s data. Researchers cannot disclose the names of banks and data processors that supply data to Consumer Edge. Researchers must avoid naming retailers when using NIQ data.
• Data must be stored only on devices and computers owned by the subscribed institution or permissible Third Party Hosting Systems. The permissible Third Party Hosting Systems must have at least one of the following information security certifications: (a) federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); (b) SSAE16 SOC2; and/or (c) ISO27001 security certifications. No amount of data should ever be stored on a personal computer.
• Within 15 days of a subscription end date or deactivation, each researcher must provide all papers, complete a final report, and provide signed verification that she/he destroyed and purged all copies of the data during deactivation.
• Upon approval of Consumer Edge, graduating PhD students may have the option to retain access to select Consumer Edge data for up to five (5) years following graduation if they secure an academic position at an accredited university in order to complete qualified projects.  To be eligible, PhD students must:
  • At least six (6) months prior to the graduation date
    • submit an extension request to the Kilts Center
    • the student must have posted a working paper to the or have submitted it to a journal.
  • Have each working paper must be registered with the Kilts Center as a separate project
  • At least 12 months prior to graduation, have all project(s) approved by Kilts Center 

• Researchers shall not make any conclusion derived from the Consumer Edge data in any research or publication that cannot be supported by the data (i.e. the Consumer Edge data may not be used in connection with a conclusion that is not related to the Consumer Edge data). In the event that other datasets are used in conjunction with the Consumer Edge data, any findings or conclusions must be attributed to the correct dataset so that it does not misrepresent what information is in the Consumer Edge data.
• Researchers must submit all copies of proposed papers, reports, presentations, abstracts, dissertations, manuscripts, journal articles, and any other publication type to the Kilts Center at least 30 days prior to any public dissemination, including SSRN and submission to journals for Consumer Edge to review. Any distributed materials may include only limited excerpts of Consumer Edge information鈥斺�渓imited excerpt鈥� means such portion of the Consumer Edge data that would not ordinarily substitute for a purchase of access to the Consumer Edge datasets.
• Thirty (30) days after providing Kilts Center a copy of a working paper, researchers must submit such papers to the .
• Researchers are required to notify the Kilts Center of publications resulting from their work with the data, even after they have stopped using the data.
• For presentations, working papers, journal articles, dissertations, and publications, researchers must include the following disclaimers:
  
  鈥淩esearcher(s)鈥� own analyses calculated (or derived) based in part on data from Consumer Edge and provided by the Kilts Center for Marketing at 黑料传送门.鈥�
  
  鈥淭he conclusions drawn from the Consumer Edge data are those of the researcher(s) and do not reflect the views of Consumer Edge. Consumer Edge is not responsible for and had no role in analyzing or preparing the results reported herein.鈥�