Exclusive: Gilt Groupe Will Distribute Local Deals Through MasterCard

At one point, it seemed as though Gilt Groupe’s daily deals business was all but finished.

During a hefty restructuring earlier this year, the e-commerce company closed six regional offices and laid off dozens of staffers from its Gilt City division.

While the company made assurances that some of its markets would remain open, especially in New York where it is based, it appeared it was just a step away from becoming one of the many Groupon clones that couldn’t hack it.

But today, there are signs of life coming back into the brand.

MasterCard has told AllThingsD that, starting this quarter, it will begin offering Gilt City’s deals to its users through a program it calls Priceless Cities.

The nonexclusive partnership will allow MasterCard to offer its users more deals for restaurants, concert tickets and travel, and give Gilt City access to a new audience by getting in front of some of the card issuer’s millions of users.

The Priceless City program is now a year old and is live in a number of cities, including New York, Chicago, Beijing, London and Toronto.

“We’ve seen cardholders in New York and the other Priceless Cities enthusiastically embrace the access and offers delivered through the program,” said Cheryl Guerin, Mastercard’s SVP of Marketing, in a statement. “The Gilt City relationship is the new piece we’re highlighting today to bring even more travel, culinary and entertainment offers to our U.S. programs.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A $40 voucher to a restaurant? $20. Gilt City’s deal with MasterCard? Priceless.

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