Sustainable Credit Cards

About 3 billion payment cards are produced every year, each with about 5 grams of plastic, Digital News Asia reported. The International Card Manufacturers Association lists the replacements: recycled PVC from industries such as automotive manufacturing and packaging, plastic collected from the oceans, industrially compostable plastic, plastics from renewable resources such as cornstarch, and wood from responsibly managed forests. ICMA also describes just-in-time printing and on-demand packaging to cut waste in card production, and banks that start to take back expired cards for recycling.

The Munich card maker Giesecke+Devrient launched its Convego Parley Ocean card with the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans on January 13, 2021. The card body is made from plastic waste collected from the oceans.

From January 1, 2028, all newly produced Mastercard plastic payment cards must be made from more sustainable materials such as recycled PVC, recycled PET or PLA, approved through a certification program, as Digital News Asia reported. Cards that pass the check by an independent auditor may carry the Card Eco Certification mark.

Mastercard started its Sustainable Card Program in 2018. By the time of the announcement, more than 330 issuers in 80 countries had joined, and more than 168 million cards had moved to the new materials.

Every card transaction carries a merchant category and an amount, and carbon calculators turn these into a CO2 estimate in the banking app. The Åland Index of the Swedish company Doconomy is used by more than 80 banks and brands in 30 countries, according to Pictet. The figures are estimates per spending category. The green fintech page covers the providers, including ecolytiq in Berlin and Visa Eco Benefits, and the carbon footprint of payments.

Card issuing, card schemes and the data that card payments produce belong to the Payments & Digital Money track at Finance Loop. The card payments page covers how people in Germany pay at the till, and the ESG reporting page covers the reporting duties that banks face.

A payment card whose body is made from recycled PVC, ocean plastic, bio-based plastic such as PLA, or wood instead of new PVC. Some issuers combine it with card recycling or carbon tracking in the app.

Some banks take back expired cards and send them to recycling, according to the International Card Manufacturers Association. Ask the issuer whether it runs such a program.

Yes. ICMA lists wood from responsibly managed forests among the materials for card bodies, with natural variation in each card's appearance.

From January 1, 2028, newly produced Mastercard plastic cards must use more sustainable materials such as recycled PVC, recycled PET or PLA, approved through a certification program.