COURBEVOIE, FRANCE-- June 07, 2021 -- For decades, the “take-make-waste” model has ruled the global economy. However, we are now seeing a paradigm shift in Banks’ and fin techs’ strategic values; they are seeking a “reduce-recycle-offset” model to reduce their carbon footprint and preserve the planet. There is also an strong appetite in the market for greener solutions, as customers are becoming more deeply committed to the protection of the environment.

With GREENPAY, IDEMIA is taking an end-to-end sustainability approach to the entire payment card lifecycle - from chip module to card body, to digital customer onboarding, to card personalization & fulfillment, to transport, to recycling once expired. GREENPAY aims to minimize the carbon footprint of payment cards by reducing and recycling at every step of this life cycle. These efforts are dramatically decreasing the footprint and for the residual footprint, IDEMIA has collaborated with ClimateSeed, a leading social initiatives launched by BNP Paribas in collaboration with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Yunus’ team.

ClimateSeed will help IDEMIA in offsetting and compensating the residual footprint with investment in various sustainability projects. These projects are not only doing the environment good, but also contributing to several of the other 16 United Nations’ sustainable development goals.

IDEMIA is proud to share that the first project in which we have chosen to invest thanks to our ClimateSeed partnership, is the India-based “Khasi Hills community Carbon project”, employing 5,000-plus people, conserving existing and regenerating degraded forests in Meghalaya, north-eastern India. The young, regenerating forests are absorbing carbon at an annual rate of 1.75 tC/ha.

Amanda Gourbault, IDEMIA Executive VP Financial Institutions, said: “We are proud to be living up to our climate change pledges. We believe we should take real-life steps to help preserve the environment. Thanks to our ClimateSeed partnership, we are doing our bit to achieving a zero carbon economy and to champion sustainable development.”

Arnaud Despontin, IDEMIA VP Corporate Social Responsibility, said: “This project is a major step towards the achievement of our CSR goals to uphold and step up our support for local communities - specifically the underprivileged - while advocating more effective environmental conservation. IDEMIA staff selected the following four key priorities in a company-wide survey: Climate action, no poverty, clean water,sanitation and quality education. This venture furthers three out of the four goals, namely climate action, quality education and reducing poverty.”

Amit Kakatikar, Regional Director- Financial Institutions, India, said: ‘From reducing the carbon footprint of the card to implementing eco-designed packaging, and replacing paper with digital services, everyone in the payment ecosystem has a part to play to ensure that we deliver to our consumers a payment tool with the lowest possible carbon footprint. There is only one planet Earth, we all have a responsibility to protect it. Our Banking and Fintech partners in India are excited to adopt Green payment initiatives. Their enthusiasm is further augmented by IDEMIA’s investment in a project that builds a better India.”