StanChart offers digital tool for consumers to track climate impact of their card purchases

STANDARD Chartered (StanChart) has partnered with Swedish fintech Doconomy to launch a digital tool that helps its customers track the impact on carbon emissions and freshwater consumption made as a result of their purchases, as identified through their credit and debit card transactions.

This is based on the five-year-old Aland Index, which provides financial institutions with carbon-footprint calculations for every transaction. The index recently added freshwater calculations to its impact presentation, said StanChart in a statement on Tuesday.

The fully-automated Aland index can calculate the carbon and water footprints for each card transaction in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents and water used per litre respectively. This is derived from the purchasing price and an emission factor, which varies across sectors, depending on how the product or service is produced. This output is then visualised for customers on StanChart's mobile banking app.

The 47 sectors identified by Doconomy, corresponding to the most common sectors consumers buy goods and services from, are further divided into various lifestyle categories such as home, food and transport. This enables customers to see, on a monthly and individual transaction basis, how their impact weighs differently across various activities in life and take proactive steps to reduce their carbon emissions and water consumption, said the bank.

The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, and its impact on the environment and human health significantly affects sustainable economic growth, said StanChart in its statement.

Rosalind Ng, StanChart's global head of client experience and strategic business enablement, said: "Our clients want to make more sustainable choices in all aspects of their lives, from what they consume to how they invest. This capability will help them understand their carbon and water impact from their transactions, so that they can make informed choices to contribute to a greener world."

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The bank will pilot the new tool for customers in Pakistan later this year.

Mathias Wikstrom, chief executive officer of three-year-old Doconomy, noted: "Through this collaboration, we are excited to combine Standard Chartered's reach and highly-regarded skill sets in both sustainability and user experience with our innovative solutions."