Greenpixie’s Five Innovatively Sustainable Fintechs

How is fintech doing when it comes to environmental sustainability?

Something we at Greenpixie are really excited to see is the rise of green fintech – that is, companies that use financial technology to make the world a more sustainable place. There’s a plethora of these out there, from green investment platforms to offsetting to credit cards made of wood. Many are absolutely booming – increasing public and organisational concern for the environment means that eco-friendly financial technology ticks all of the right boxes.

We’ve picked out a few inventive FinTechs below!

1. Treecard

Treecard is just unbelievably cool. First up – they make credit cards out of sustainably sourced wood, so you get a fun and ultimately decomposable addition to your wallet. But that’s not all. Every time you make a purchase using Treecard, they donate money to Ecosia – so every time you buy a flat white or a new book, you’re actually planting trees! Ecosia supports tree planting projects across the planet, which helps mitigate climate change, as well as having more local effects like reducing desertification and reinvigorating water cycles. There is nothing not to love about Treecard!

2. Clim8 Invest

Clim8 Invest might be more in the realms of what you might think of as a traditional fintech, but it’s still an innovative and exciting new platform. This app can be downloaded onto your phone, and provides an easy-to-use platform to invest in sustainable projects. They focus on six areas: clean energy, clean technology, sustainable food, clean water, smart mobility and recycling. They believe in the power of investing being used for good, and we couldn’t agree more.

3. Net Purpose

Net Purpose is a great resource for investors – it helps you measure the environmental and social impact of your portfolio. It aligns with the constantly changing ESG standards, so it is a simple and helpful way to keep on top of the real impact of investing.

It can be really tricky to work out what the actual impact of investments are, and everyone wants to see their real-world effects. Net Purpose is doing such great work in making sure that investments are really understood and their impacts are quantitatively measured.

4. Empower

Empower is using blockchain technology to solve a slightly different problem: plastic waste. These guys recently won the sustainability award of the year at Fintech100 Abu Dhabi, so you know they must be pretty cool. What they do is incentivise people to recycle plastic waste by exchanging it for tokens, which can either be swapped for money or to help plastic cleanup operations in different areas of the world.

They use blockchain to make sure this is tracked from when it first gets picked up right through to how it is reused. This makes the whole system very, very transparent - so you and the companies involved can really see what’s happening to the plastic. According to their website, so far they’ve removed a hefty 12 million kilogrammes of plastic from nature - pretty impressive.

5. Normative

Our last company of the day is Normative – a carbon accounting service. They help companies measure their carbon emissions, point out where there are major problems, and give suggestions to improve. Crucially, they also include the supply chain of businesses, which is often where major emissions can be lurking, providing a more full and accurate picture. Accounting services like Normative are a real timesaver for businesses, especially with the constantly shifting knowledge and targets that are a nightmare to keep on top of, even to the most keen environmentalists.

It’s great to see these companies, and others, harnessing the power of financial technology for good. What are some of your favourite sustainable fintech companies? Let us know in the comments – we’d love to check them out!

At Greenpixie we help companies measure their digital carbon. We’ve been doing some research on the online carbon footprint of the fintech sector – so keep your eyes peeled for this in the next few weeks! If you’re interested for your business, get in touch with us at hello@greenpixie.com or head to our website – we would love to chat with you!