Author: Oli Weiss
1. The fintech revolution is currently shaking traditional finance to it’s core – what can the
innovation taking place here add to the struggle to put the 21 st century economy on a more
sustainable footing? Several case-studies suggest financial innovation can and is having a
great deal of impact on the drive for more sustainability.
2. Founded in 2018, Almond is a UK-based fintech who claim to be the first app that empowers anyone to become carbon balanced by helping them to buy better, act better, and offset the rest. The app will reveal the carbon-foot print of your specific purchases, can suggest less environmentally damaging alternatives, and allows you to link your spending and saving patterns to green projects.
3. Second case-study: Bank of the West. This San Francisco-based fintech supports global
climate action by donating 1% of net proceeds from its "1% for the Planet" checking account to not-for-profit climate change organizations, all at at no cost to the customer. Customers who sign up for the checking account also receive a 100% biodegradable/compostable debit cards. When the debit card expires, it will not become a permanent part of a landfill.
4. Summary: the rise of fintech should be good for the planet, just as it is good for the
consumer.
About the Author
After finishing undergraduate and master’s studies in Politics and Economics at the University of Leeds, Oli moved to the University of Sussex to complete his doctoral research in the field of International Political Economy in 2015. Today he lives in London, where he splits his time between teaching economics and researching the micro and macro consequences of disruptive tech.
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