Fintech and eco-responsibility – The “Green” trend
The Fintech family is constantly growing, regularly welcoming new players into its fold. Innovations in the payment sector have exploded since the advent of Open Banking, which we often talk about on this blog. Among these innovative ideas, some Fintechs have chosen to focus their services on the eco-responsibility of their customers.
Credits : E-commerce Mag
Eco-responsibility: a must for today’s companies
The payment and fintech sector is indeed no exception to the awareness of environmental issues. In all sectors, companies have to prove that they are implementing and enforcing green measures. These measures have quickly become mandatory, forcing companies to adapt their business to these new green issues.
Regarding payment, this has resulted in the emergence of Fintechs offering services to track the energy consumption of their customers’ purchases. We talked about this in more detail in a previous article. For example, American Express payment cards made of recycled plastic have emerged and we can clearly identify a new category of green and eco-responsible Fintech.
This desire of the Fintechs did not appear out of nowhere but from the observation that the new generations of consumers are more sensitive to environmental issues than the previous ones. Between recycling, organic products and all the other ecological measures put in place, today’s consumers have the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint. They can even go further: some companies like Doconomy offer their customers tools to measure the ecological impact of their spending.
Key initiatives in the payment industry
Limiting CO2 emissions in the payment world may seem abstract: how do customers pollute when they make a purchase?
It turns out that traditional payment methods such as cash and checks have a very high carbon footprint. By calculating various factors, we realize that these methods of payment are not environmentally friendly. From its creation to its transport, cash is a major source of emissions. A payment of about 40€, assuming it is paid with a mix of coins and banknotes, would emit 22g of CO². In comparison, a payment by credit card emits only 3g of CO² and is therefore a much more eco-responsible payment method.
Source : OnlyOne
One of the objectives of so-called “green” fintechs is to provide greater transparency on the ecological impact of payment methods. Users will be able to see for themselves where their CO2 emissions come from. The fact of attributing a concrete figure to a data as vague as carbon emissions makes it easier to capture the attention of users.
In addition to this carbon footprint calculation tool, which we also mentioned recently with the case of Enfuce, other fintechs are getting involved in their own way. Onlyone, for example, offers an eco-responsible payment card in partnership with Idemia. Launched in September 2020, it is made of 85% recycled PVC. Onlyone also offers its users the opportunity to directly support eco-responsibility projects in their dedicated application.
Helios has thought of a “youth account” for 18-23 year olds, an age group particularly receptive to environmental measures. For only 3€/month, the users of this account will have access to a Visa card made of natural wood, with the possibility to support environmental projects as in the previous example.
Another objective of these eco-responsible Fintechs is to raise awareness of these environmental issues among existing players. Some traditional banks are indeed still behind on the ecological issues they are facing.
They will probably have to catch up if they are to remain relevant and attractive: 81% of French people would take into account an ecological positivity label when choosing a savings product. This ecological awareness is all the more important for the under 35s, who are much more sensitive to eco-responsibility than their predecessors.
Responsible finance is therefore a concept to be followed as it has convinced the new generations. We should see many financial services adapting to become more environmentally friendly, and thus more attractive to generations sensitive to these issues.
