DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: : NEXT GEN
More socially and environmentally conscious customers are on the horizon. So how do financial providers meet their needs now – and in the future? Here’s a pan-European view from Ray Brash of PPS, Andréa Ganovelli of Green-Got, and Jes Hennig from Pockid An uptick in regulation determining organisations’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities and the emergence of a new generation of ‘conscious consumers’ are exerting a transformational pressure on banks and other financial service providers – not just superficially, but at the core of their organisations. And the push-me, pull-me effect of compliance and customer demand is affecting the entire supply chain. Here, Ray Brash, co-founder and CEO of European processor/issuer PPS, Andréa Ganovelli, co-founder and CEO of upcoming sustainable French retail bank Green-Got, whose tagline is ‘technology at the service of ecology’, and Jes Hennig co-founder and CEO of Pockid, the German banking app for young people (both of whom work with PPS) offer their insights on what Generations Y and Z want – and need – from a bank. THE FINTECH MAGAZINE: People want 'more green' businesses – and younger generations of consumers (Gen Z in particular) have been vocal on that. Their demands extend to financial services, too. So, how can that sector ensure it responds and sees a commercial return? RAY BRASH: If you think about it, cash is not a particularly great environmental product. It’s quite an intensive manufacturing process and it has to be transported, which requires big trucks. Historically, plastic cards have had issues such as PVC content. Reducing plastic cards and cash both have a commercial benefit for the economies they’re in, and they also have an environmental benefit. I think we’ve seen those two impacts during COVID.
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You’re seeing more and more institutions producing products that are, effectively, card-based payments without a physical card, and, if the consumer wants one, that’s extra. That’s encouraging consumers to use digital payments, which are much greener, and, of course, from a commercial point of view, it’s saving costs for the fintech/bank. ANDRÉA GANOVELLI: Paying for something is the end of every kind of production, and, when you produce something, you create a CO2 footprint. A digital payment application can help people to understand the environmental impact of what they are consuming. At Green-Got, we have an app connected to your card, which can help customers understand their CO2 footprint – because to reduce it, you first you need to know it, right? And then we can give them further advice. So, payments are key.
The payment, in terms of digital commerce, can quite easily drive a lot of social good Ray Brash, PPS
JES HENNIG: Whatever you do, remember that Generation Z are very familiar with sustainability issues, thanks in part to Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future campaign, and they are very alert to greenwashing, too. So, if you want to target a product towards them, then, as a company, just make sure you are meeting all of those sustainability requirements.
financial services align themselves with those values? RB: In terms of digital commerce, I think payments can drive a lot of social good. Amazon is maybe not the best example of a socially forward-looking company, but they have a product called Smile, which is a way of making the same purchases you would make on Amazon, but if you go through its Smile site you make a donation with every purchase – in my case, it goes to my local village hall. We’ve also seen examples of companies giving card readers to street buskers. The Big Issue magazine [which is sold on the street by homeless people to raise awareness of homelessness in the UK] famously has contactless payments. And there’s a company called Pennies, for instance, that encourages rounding up to charity at the point of checkout. So, there are plenty of examples [of e-commerce enabling these values]. As a consumer, you just press a button, it’s taken cvare of, and you feel you’ve done your bit. TFM: Gen Z might know more than ESG and climate change than most of us here.
TFM: This generation is also said to be more socially conscious. How can www.fintechf.com
