Taiwan's O-Bank launches 'Consumer Spending Carbon Calculator,' rewards carbon reduction

台灣O-Bank推出“消費碳排放計算機”，鼓勵減少碳排放

O-Bank Mastercard holders can check carbon footprint of transactions through online, mobile portals


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — O-Bank announced the launch of its “Consumer Spending Carbon Calculator” and “Low-Carbon Lifestyle Debit Card” during a press conference on Wednesday (March 30).

According to O-Bank, it is the first in Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region to adopt a carbon calculator. The function uses an application programming interface to access Mastercard’s big data database and calculates the amount of carbon emission of each transaction based on the type and amount of products or services purchased.

New and existing O-Bank Mastercard holders with the function turned on can log into their online banking account or mobile banking app to see an itemized list of carbon emissions per purchase as well as a figure for total emissions generated by all of their purchases.

O-Bank said that “to encourage consumers to translate carbon consciousness into substantive action,” it will offer preferential demand deposit rates to cardholders who activate the carbon calculator, make at least one purchase every month, and keep their annual average carbon emissions at below eight grams per New Taiwan Dollar spent over the course of one calendar year. Cardholders who meet these conditions enjoy a 0.1% raise in demand deposit interest rates starting the following year, with no caps on the amount of applicable deposits.

O-Bank also announced a new “Low-Carbon Lifestyle” debit card, which offers cash back rewards based on the average carbon emission per New Taiwan Dollar spent. Aside from a basic reward program, cardholders get discounts or free gifts from 24 social enterprises and B Corps that are “socially conscious and environmentally friendly.”

At the press conference, O-Bank Chair Tina Y. Lo (駱怡君) said, “By Launching the ‘Consumer Spending Carbon Calculator,’ O-Bank hopes to take advantage of its position as a financial intermediary to help consumers develop a greater awareness of the carbon emissions generated by their daily purchases… We believe that less is more: the less your actions result in carbon emissions, the more rewards you’ll receive from O-Bank.”