The Payment Industry contributes to environmental change in many ways

Given its large and varied number of participants, the payment industry has a wide spectrum of environmental impacts. We could name:

• The environmental cost of manufacturing hardware devices compared to their relatively short lifetime ( 5-7 years for a payment terminal and 2 years for a phone)
• The printing of receipts that directly land in the trash bin, if not on the pavement
• The energy used by data centers

In 2017, The DNB (Dutch National Bank) attempted to break down various components of card payment to show their impact relative to the complete card transaction. It demonstrated that:

• Data centres only represent a very small share (10%) of the overall impact of card payments
• The manufacturing of cards also has a rather small impact (around 15%), mainly due to the PVC used to produce them
• Much of the impact (75%) is due to the POS terminal devices, mainly from their materials (37%) and energy consumption (27%)

The study also tells us that more than a third of the overall environmental impact of the debit card payment system (36%) consists of greenhouse gas emissions, mostly through energy usage and transport.

Carbon Footprint Calculator: The system will calculate and display the carbon footprint associated with each transaction based on factors such as payment method, distance, and
purchase type.

Real-time Feedback: Users will receive instant feedback on the environmental impact of
their transactions, fostering awareness and informed decision-making.

•Green Payment Options: Offer green payment alternatives, such as supporting eco-friendly
vendors, donating to environmental causes or carbon offset programs.