In a revealing new study by Tink, Europe’s premier open banking platform, an estimated 40% of UK residents expressed interest in utilising banking tools to monitor their environmental footprint, however, only 24% of banks currently offer such capabilities.
Despite the surge in demand, only 17% of banking customers are making use of these sustainability tools, underlining a golden opportunity for banks to bridge this gap by fortifying their sustainability offerings.
Further, the study uncovers potential commercial advantages for banks willing to embrace this prospect. An estimated 28% of surveyed customers said they would switch to a different bank that provided tools to monitor their carbon emissions. Conversely, 30% of banks express interest in offering these tools but have no concrete plans in place.
Tink’s research, involving over 2,000 UK consumers and 113 senior retail banking executives, throws light on the chance for banks to take on a larger role in guiding customers on their path to sustainability. An estimated 37% would like their bank to assist in reducing their environmental impact, while 32% specifically want their bank to provide an overview of their CO2 emissions from transactions across all their bank accounts in one place.
Tink’s UK & IE Banking Director Tasha Chouhan said, “It’s great to see such high numbers of customers wanting their banks to help them to make more sustainable choices, and even better to see that many banks are already starting to deliver on this demand.”
Despite the apparent interest, a significant portion (46%) of banks are planning to invest less or halt investment in sustainability related tools altogether. Banks failing to prioritise their sustainability offerings risk losing out to competitors already delivering these tools to customers. In fact, over a quarter (28%) of customers expressed their readiness to switch banks if it facilitated tracking the environmental impact of their spending.
Chouhan emphasised the need for banks to grab this opportunity and foster better engagement with their customers by integrating sustainability-based features in their offering. She added, “By driving the uptake of these tools to help customers better understand and manage their carbon footprint, we have an opportunity as an industry to play our part in creating a more sustainable future for everyone.”
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