Pan-European payment processor Nets is taking the lead in green banking technology, with the launch of a pioneering card service that helps consumers to track and reduce their carbon footprint.
Nets Climate Action Service is a global first, under which a consumer’s card transactions are used to calculate the C02 emissions of all purchased goods and services triggering an immediate carbon offset donation to a chosen green climate project.
According to a new white paper from Nets, Carbon offset solution for digital banking, many consumers are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious and want to align with brands that support their values.
Nets says that card issuers have a unique opportunity to create awareness of the impact of consumption behaviour on the emission of greenhouse gases and allow their customers to take action to mitigate their carbon footprint.
An urgent global challenge for financial health
Explaining why climate change solutions should be a development priority for financial institutions, Nets points to climate change as an urgent global challenge with long-term implications for the sustainable development of all countries.
To maintain the financial health of economies, financial institutions need to assess their exposure to climate-change related risks and explore new opportunities for revenue growth in a sustainable way. These issues are being felt by banks and their customers, as public awareness around climate change grows.
However, many carbon offset programmes are caught in a gap between credibility and feasibility, which can weaken environmental protection programmes initiated by financial institutions, losing goodwill and credibility in the eyes of their customers.
With the launch of the Nets Climate Action Service, cardholders and their issuers are now empowered to proactively engage in the fight against negative climate impact caused by personal consumption.
There are two types of Nets Climate Action Service, one for direct carbon offset and one for investing in sustainable funds provided by the card issuer.
The costs of the C02-offsets can be funded by the consumer via transaction round-up, by the issuer, via interchange or other funding sources, by participating merchants via merchant partnerships, or a combination of the above.
Users not only see where their contributions are going but they can also choose from a number of projects to which the funds can be applied.
With in-app reports on the total C02 emissions associated with purchases that they have offset, customers can see their shopping translated directly into positive environmental impact.
According to Nets, card issuers can deploy specific customer engagement strategies by allowing their customers to intuitively self-enrol in carbon offset controls solutions directly from their mobile banking app.
These can tie into broader marketing or gamification initiatives, such as generating alerts when milestones are reached – both for positive reinforcement, or as a warning when budgets are breached, or high levels of C02 occur.
To download the white paper CLICK HERE
For more information please contact: Tony Bach Christensen, Director of Strategic Partnerships (tobch@nets.eu), Nets Issuer & eSecurity Services
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