From gift cards to green finance – the evolution of payment processing

A 2021 study across 24 countries revealed that 58% of adults are more mindful of their impact on the environment, and 85% said they’re willing to take personal action to combat environmental and sustainability challenges. 54% of those surveyed believe it’s more important to reduce their own carbon footprint since COVID-19. Another recent study found most consumers value sustainability, with over 60% looking for sustainable finance services and products. Attributed to Ray Brash, CEO, PPS

As society become more focussed on the environment, PPS is working to ensure it remains at the forefront of consumer needs. This means looking at our partners critically, ensuring the businesses we work with are making a greener future possible through finance.

PPS is able, through its relationships with multiple card vendors globally, to provide recycled plastic cards made of recycled PET waste streams (r-PTEG), meaning recyclable plastic food containers and drinks bottles. We also provide plastic-free cards made of alternative materials like wood, produced by our Austrian-based card manufacturer partner exceet Card Group.

There are currently several PPS programmes in production at exceet Card Group AG, which will offer customers’ end-users 100% sustainable wooden cards which are EMV-compliant and dual interface-capable, so that both contact and contactless payments are possible. As part of exceet’s commitment to sustainability it also uses 100% renewable energies (hydropower and photovoltaic) during the card production.

Another programme is with UK-based ekko, a climate-friendly debit card, app and ecosystem that empowers consumers to make a difference in the fight against climate change while engaging in routine actions like shopping and paying bills. 

With every five transactions an ekko user makes, one ocean-bound plastic bottle is diverted to a recycling plant. It was the first UK fintech to join the Mastercard Priceless Planet Coalition, which aims to restore 100 million trees by 2025. With every 50 transactions, a tree is strategically planted and maintained for the first five years of its life. Users can even track their green activity and monitor their carbon footprint via an intuitive carbonmeter on the ekko app.

Our parent company Edenred has an EcoCheque product that is used by customers in Belgium to purchase eco-friendly products and services.

More recently, one of our clients has started working with a partner that is able to calculate the carbon footprint of everything you buy. You can set yourself a carbon footprint target on what you’re spending and decide to buy products based on their carbon footprint. Ultimately, consumer spending is the big lever to change in industry; everything is driven by consumer behaviour, and this is how fintech can be a driving force behind change.

The PPS origin story

This idea of a value-added proposition, in which an offering addresses more than just a transactional need, is what PPS in founded on.

We started life as a prepaid processor, with non-traditional finance products, like gift cards like pocket option coupon or gift cards. We also worked to enable companies to distribute employee benefits using a card system. For us, prepaid was about transactions with real value proposition. 

As consumer needs and habits evolved, so did fintech offerings, shifting from commodity products to intelligent services. During the pandemic, consumers became used to paying how they want, in real time. The socially conscious among us are now turning to finance for more sustainable options that offer convenience, but not at the expense of the planet.

As a society, what matters to us will evolve over time, but the idea of added value, which has its roots in our prepaid heritage, will always be at the core of what our clients do and what we believe in.