“Where To Settle” is a unique digital platform that marries data with social responsibility in an outstanding way. It is an insightful and purposeful piece of creative work that has a unique power to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland, while helping local communities.

The case proves that an insightful strategy and a brilliant idea, enhanced by data, have an overwhelming power to change lives for the better. While helping bring to life a brand’s meaningful role in an authentic and life-changing way. Even in the most difficult times.

Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, almost 10 million refugees from the occupied territories have crossed the Polish border. Many Ukrainians found shelter in major Polish cities which were overcrowded, causing rent hikes, increased competition for jobs – all amid an unprecedented inflation crisis.

It was a perfect storm to generate financial instability and leave people out of the system. Mastercard - a brand with Financial Inclusion at its core as it is both their social responsibility strategy and their business one- decided to act quickly.

But how can we help millions of refugees?

That was essentially the brief and a very difficult challenge to face if you really want to make a positive impact in an authentic way.

For Mastercard, thanks to technology and data, it soon became evident that to help refugees rebuild their lives, some of them had to be redirected to smaller cities.

By tracking the evolving needs of Ukrainian refugees (from initial shelter to housing and jobs), we were able to develop a unique platform, dedicated to help them find a place to live and work in Poland, while actually supporting local communities needs.

“Where To Settle” – is digital platform created by Mastercard in cooperation with Morizon-Gratka Group, part of the biggest Polish news organisation providing job and apartment rental offers. The comprehensive digital tool aggregates Mastercard’s spending insights and customised data from the Polish Central Statistical Office. It asks those looking for new homes to input information such as preferred employment, family size and more. The communication for the tool also features local people from various Polish cities inviting refugees to their towns and showing them the highlights and hotspots in each area.

Research showed that in the first months after the war started, as much as 34% of refugees were unable to decide where to live in Poland. It deepened their despair and made it difficult for them to become financially independent. Over time, the focus shifted towards looking for a place where they could feel at home and settle.

We knew that finding a place to live was fundamental, but something else was important: finding a job.

So “Where to settle” was born, using data and technology to connect refugees with housing and job opportunities across Poland.

The real breakthrough moment was realising that this platform could also help local communities suffering from depopulation. So the real insight was unveiled when we realised that the needs of these 2 groups of people could actually benefit each other.

The “Where To Settle” platform has been created in cooperation with Morizon-Gratka Group, part of the biggest Polish news organization. It provides job & apartment rental offers to Ukrainian refugees.

The comprehensive digital tool aggregates Mastercard’s spending insights and customized data from the Polish Central Statistical Office. It asks those looking for new homes to input information such as preferred employment, family size etc. It then provides average cost of living, salary, housing and economic opportunities in various parts of the country, ultimately showing individuals and families the places where they will most likely thrive.

The Polish government and the Association of Polish cities are supporting and promoting the tool. Digital and Social Media campaign features local people from Polish cities inviting refugees to their towns and showing them the highlights and hotspots from each area. The campaign was targeted at all Ukrainian refugees staying in major cities.

1. We introduced effective and engaging platform

-We attracted 242,17k UU to the platform, and 73,7k to fill-in completed forms. Basing on data form Where to Settle and number of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, we estimate that even 20,05%* refugees benefited from the platform!

-92% of Ukrainians engaged in helping refugees found the tool useful

2. “Where to settle” also significantly lifted Mastercard’sperception on such important factors as “technological” +12 (UA), “modern” +14 (UA) and “social” + 14 (PL) + 11 (UA)

3. We increased Mastercard’s “usage intent’ within the group of non-users, a crucial business priority for growth. 57% of Poles and 80% of Ukrainians non-users declare usage intent after contact with the platform.

*thanks to forms from the platform, we know that among users the average family was 4,08 persons large. It gives 300 696 persons who benefited from the platform – 20,05% of Ukrainian refugees (estimated 1,5mln).

At the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the inhabitants of Poland mobilised and rushed to the border with humanitarian aid. Often involving private cars and funds. Without waiting for official help from the Polish government institutions, they started the process of helping refugees, often taking them into their own homes in big cities. Over time, it became clear that systemic and long-term solutions were needed, helping not only Ukrainian refugees but also the Polish economy, which began to enter a recession caused by the war.

From this perspective, Mastercard´s initiative was very well received both from refugees but also local Polish communities, as well as media and official institutions.