Mastercard, RailsBank and Toqio have partnered with fintech platform HealRWorld, to deliver a corporate debit card that rewards sustainable businesses and promotes their commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Part of HealRWorld’s new ‘Together we can’ campaign, announced during COP26, the corporate debit card is powered by sustainability data held by the fintech platform on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) around the globe. SMEs that are already committed to ESG standards are on average three times more credit-worthy than their peers, according to research undertaken by HealRWorld and Dun & Bradstreet.
The group will also release a card targeted at consumers, which can be used for shopping within the HealRWorld Global Sustainable Business Community Platform, and will incorporate a carbon calculator which provides basic information on the carbon footprint of purchases using data from merchant category codes (MCCs).
Nigel Verdon, CEO and co-founder of Railsbank, stated: “This is a great initiative from HealRWorld and so appropriate that such a card was launched at COP26. We need this type of vision and foresight if we are to cope with the issues facing our planet. We are proud to be working alongside Mastercard and Toqio on this project.”
Railsbank is providing HealRWorld with payment tools for SMEs to link a debit card and payment account to Mastercard’s ‘Priceless Planets’ proposition, while Toqio’s white-labelled digital finance SaaS platform will power the debit card.
Similar to the offerings available on Bunq and Tred’s green cards, users are able to off-set carbon emissions on the consumption of goods bought with the debit card, and allows users to give back to the planet by contributing towards planting a tree with each purchase.
“We want to empower people to purchase with the knowledge that they are taking a constructive step towards achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals and making the world a better place for our environment and people,” said Michele Bongiovanni, founder and CEO of HealRWorld.
Mike Galvin, Toqio’s CCO and co-founder, stated: “Toqio’s flexibility will allow for a seamless process in creating this debit card and we are delighted to have partnered with HealRWorld to deliver a proposition with such a positive impact in support of the UN’s sustainable development goals.”
