NEWSLETTER
On April 13, a C6 Bank customer in Brazil shared screenshots of his online bank account, revealing that the financial institution was tracking CO2 emissions from his purchases and urging him to compensate monetarily. C6 Bank claims that the new tool aims to inspire Brazilians to adopt more sustainable behaviors.
‘CBDC Preview’: Bank client explains how his Brazilian bank monitors transactions for CO2 emissions
In recent years, politicians have pressured banks to adhere to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals. This has led financial institutions to focus on climate change, equality and social justice. Thursday, Dr. Simon Goddek, CEO of Sunfluencer and client of C6 Bank, described how his bank is already using tools that monitor client transactions related to CO2 emissions. The bank calculates the estimated carbon footprint for each transaction made with the account.
Dr. Diosdek tweeted, “My Brazilian bank, C6 Bank, is now tracking my CO2 emissions from purchases, travel, etc., and strongly encourages me to offset them monetarily. I predicted this development two years ago, and now it seems that it is slowly coming true. Welcome to the dystopian world we live in.” He too noted that JPMorgan has a significant stake in C6 Bank and suggested that it could herald similar developments in the United States. JPMorgan Chase has a 40% stake in C6 Bank, a Brazilian digital financial institution established in 2019.
C6 bench inserted the new CO2 bank tool on April 3 and detailed its main function: to analyze the consequences of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and serve as an indicator to implement sustainable measures. Called “Carbon Extract”, the tool monitors CO2 emissions from daily spending made with debit and credit cards, as well as transfers and Pix transactions.
Along with the announcement of this banking tool, C6 Bank declared that it had “reduced its carbon emissions to zero”. Dr. Goddek’s Twitter thread sparked considerable criticism of the banking industry’s approach to solutions to climate change. On the Reddit r/bitcoin forum, the tool was referred as a “preview” of the central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Several financial institutions are adopting climate change tracking tools to monitor spending
In the Reddit post, one user mentioned that Turkey’s Garanti Bank also offers a CO2 emissions bank tool. “It is coming,” the Redditor warned, “they just need to create the crises necessary to introduce it on a global scale.” In May 2022, Garanti BBVA inserted its carbon footprint tool, which calculates customers’ carbon emissions based on their banking transactions. Several banks and the world’s leading payment services have developed tools to measure the transactional carbon footprint of customers. For example, MasterCard created a carbon calculation tool for this purpose.
moneythor analyze customer transaction data to estimate CO2 production, while Personetics has developed a customer-based carbon footprint tracking tool. Bud, an open banking fintech company, offers a carbon emissions tool, and fintech firm Cogo’s research suggests that 75% of bank customers want information related to said data. Meniga digital bank too argues that banks should provide estimates of the CO2 emission of their customers. Critics of these technologies claim that they can ultimately lead to censorship of transactions and closure of accounts. This comes at a time when banks worldwide are already closing customer accounts without much explanation, as reported by The New York Times on April 8, 2023.
What do you think about banks tracking the carbon footprints of their customers through transactional data? Do you think it is a necessary step towards a more sustainable future or an invasion of privacy and possible censorship of financial activity? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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