Islandbanki announces sustainability partnership with Meniga

Meniga, which was founded in 20029, is the UK-based global leader in digital banking. The company has joined forces with one of Iceland’s most prominent banks, Islandbanki, to launch a new, green banking solution called ‘Carbon Insight’.

According to reports, the Carbon Insight solution, which integrates into Islandbanki’s own mobile b anking app, will empower thousands of people across Iceland to help in the battle against climate change by enabling app users to track their carbon footprint.

As part of the collaboration, Íslandsbanki will integrate the Carbon Insight solution into its digital banking offering, which will help drive customer engagement, boost loyalty and create a more robust environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy.

Sustainable banking

As worldwide anxiety around climate change continues to grow, the demand for green products and initiatives has skyrocketed in recent years, bringing about a growing population of carbon-conscious consumers, and this is the first of several Carbon Insight banking collaborations for Meniga in th e pipeline. 

There is a growing expectation that fintechs like Meniga, will use their technologies to standardise carbon offsetting, by integrating carbon footprinting and profiling into the everyday banking experience and empowering millions of banking customers to adopt more sustainable spending habits and take high-impact action. 

Many banks are also keen to serve the needs of the swiftly growing segment of carbon-conscious consumers. A recent survey conducted by Meniga revealed that 80% of consumers experiencing its technology now want to use their banking apps to help them estimate their carbon footprint.

Meniga’s Carbon Insight solution will provide:

• An estimate of their overall carbon footprint based on their spending profile, broken down into spending categories and time periods
• A broad understanding of the specific aspects of their spending that are the most detrimental to the environment
• The necessary information and knowledge to alter their spending behaviour, boost their personal savings, and crucially, help save the planet

The solution enables customers to: 

• Track their estimated carbon footprint for a given time period (which can be broken down into specific spending categories)
• Track the estimated carbon footprint of individual transactions
• Compare their overall carbon footprint and the carbon footprint of spending categories with that of other users

The development of Meniga’s Carbon Index was managed by the Meniga Environmental Advisory Board, represented by climate change experts from organisations such as UNFCCC,  Accountancy Europe, World Resource Institute and the University of Iceland.  

Speaking about the new partnership, Georg Ludviksson, CEO & Co-Found er of Meniga, explained, “With more and more people around the world growing anxious about the consequences of climate change, the need for solutions and initiatives that empower people to take action to help protect our planet has become a business imperative.” 

He continued, “As custodians of our personal finance data, banks are in a unique position to play a key role in helping the rapidly growing movement of carbon conscious consumers make informed choices in their daily consumption.”

Ludviksson added that the sustainability culture of Iceland would make adoption of the scheme successful. “We have seen great enthusiasm for our Carbon Insight product over the past few months, from banks and other key financial players, which is an encouraging sign from our industry that more green initiatives are still to come. For our part, we’re extremely proud to be leading, alongside Íslandsbanki, in the green banking movement and the industry’s fight against climate change.”

Birna Einarsdóttir, CEO of Íslandsba nki, agreed that customers were keen to play their role in the drive towards zero carbon footprints and sustainability. She pointed out, “Consumers are increasingly interested in reducing their carbon footprint and having a positive impact on the environment.”

Einarsdóttir added, “Meniga’s Carbon Insight solution will enable Íslandsbanki’s customers to estimate the carbon footprint of their private consumption, identify carbon intensive purchases and ultimately reduce their carbon footprint while saving money at the same time.”