The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated an investigation into several prominent companies regarding their use of customer data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence to personalize pricing.
Eight companies spanning multiple industries—Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase, Accenture, Task Software, McKinsey & Co., Revionics, Bloomreach, and Pros—received information requests from the FTC on Tuesday. The agency aims to understand the implications of these pricing strategies on privacy, competition, and consumer protection.
These companies utilize data tools, including AI, in a practice known as “surveillance pricing” or “dynamic pricing,” which allows them to present different prices for the same product based on various consumer characteristics. Factors considered may include location, demographics, credit history, and browsing history.
Many of the firms approached by the FTC are involved in providing transaction, sales, and pricing services to major corporations both in the U.S. and internationally. Task Software manages transactions for large hospitality brands like McDonald’s and Starbucks, while Revionics offers retail pricing optimization tools to global chains, including Home Depot. Pros, which specializes in AI-driven pricing solutions, serves clients like Nestlé, HP, and United Airlines and collaborates with Microsoft on technology development.
The FTC is focused on uncovering the complexities of this “opaque market” in which consumers are categorized for targeted pricing. FTC Chair Lina Khan emphasized the risks associated with companies collecting personal data, stating that these practices could lead to higher prices for consumers. She noted, “Americans deserve to know whether businesses are using detailed consumer data to deploy surveillance pricing, and the FTC’s inquiry will shed light on this shadowy ecosystem of pricing middlemen.”
The regulatory agency is seeking information on four primary areas: the types of surveillance pricing services offered by each company, the data collection methods employed, customer and sales data, and the impact of these practices on the pricing consumers face.