IB Launches China's First Low-Carbon Credit Card
January 28, 2010, the Industrial Bank, the active advocator of Green Finance and the first Equator Bank in China, released China's first credit card to be themed on low-carbon in Beijing. The card, known as the China Low-Carbon Credit Card, represents a joint initiative between the Industrial Bank and the Beijing Environment Exchange. This is an innovative initiative move by the Chinese banking industry to combat climate change and contribute to energy conservation and emissions reduction. It is also a major step towards low-carbon personal consumption in China. This marks the beginning of green-consumption in China's credit card market, which is home to a large number of high-end consumers. China's credit card market will begin to promote the low-carbon lifestyle of cardholders.
Since 2007, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission have been emphasizing the need for banking institutions to boldly undertake their environmental and social responsibilities and promote sustainable development in China whilst seeking to profit and sustain their own operation.
At the launching ceremony, officials from the Industrial Bank stated that as an active proponent of social responsibilities, the Industrial Bank has adopted sustainable finance as a consensus in corporate governance other than just an operational experiment. The bank has gone from passively subjecting itself to certain restrictions to taking the initiative in unlocking the opportunities therein. It has gone from developing one or two sustainable finance products to redesigning the way that it does business and remodeling its processes. This is a part of tireless efforts to achieve harmony between people, nature, the environment and society. As a beautiful footnote in the green finance strategy of the Bank, “the Low-Carbon Credit Card co-issued with the Beijing Environment Exchange is designed to raise the awareness and support for environmental protection among all walks of life and create a feasible mode for the operation of the personal carbon exchange market.”
By the end of 2009, the Industrial Bank had extended 222 loans for energy conservation and emissions reduction projects, amounting to RMB 16.58 billion. These projects are expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 31,778,000 tons each year. Today, as a departure from the traditional mode of corporate social responsibilities in the banking industry, the industrial Bank has moved the concept of conservation and emissions reduction into the personal sector for the first time, advocating green consumption and low-carbon consumption to promote consumption quality and benefits. This is an innovative move by the Chinese banking industry support the cause of energy consumption, emissions reduction and sustainable development.
According to Yan Xuewang, the GM of the Industrial Bank's Credit Card Center, the China Low-Carbon Credit Card, as the first credit card in China to be themed around low carbon emissions, has the following unique features: 1. a credit card-based personal purchasing platform of carbon credit, established in conjunction with the Beijing Environment Exchange – an authoritative environmental rights and interests trading institution in China – to provide the first banking channel for the personal purchase of carbon credit; and 2.China's first “Personal Green Profile” system, established jointly with the Beijing Environment Exchange, to realize traceability of personal low carbon trading records and encourage card holders to participate in carbon emission reductions and live a low-carbon life.
The concepts of low carbon and environmental protection are also well demonstrated in the design of the China Low-Carbon Credit Card. The card itself is made of a new kind of degradable green material, reducing the threat to the environment imposed by traditional PVC cards after they are discarded; electronic statements are adopted to reduce resource consumption and carbon emissions incurred during the production and mailing of paper bills; a Guide to Low-Carbon Life manual is given to each card holder, which introduces tips to help consumers reduce their carbon emissions effectively in daily life; a special low-carbon credit card website is set up for card holders to help calculate their own carbon emissions and purchase carbon credit to become “carbon neutral”; and a low-carbon credit card club has established to invite card holders to take part in green low-carbon trips and other special activities.
To actively promote the notion of the “green use” of the card, the Industrial Bank had also established the “Low-Carbon Happy Life” carbon credit purchase fund – RMB 0.01 is donated to the fund for every purchase made using the China Low-Carbon Credit Card, which will be collectively used to purchase carbon credit on April 22 (the World Earth Day) of each year. In this way, every swipe of the card will contribute to emissions reduction.
To encourage more people to participate in China's goal of carbon emissions reduction, the IB has also designed preferential promotion activities for the China Low-Carbon Credit Card. For example, customers who have successfully applied for and been granted the Low-Carbon Credit Card will get a STARBUCKS To-Go mug for free if their first purchase using the card amounts to more than RMB 199. This encourages customers to use fewer disposable cups in daily life. Golden Card customers whose monthly purchases using the card amount to RMB 2,000 or above for the six months following the first purchase using the card will get a GIANT foldable bicycle for free. This encourages customers to choose environmentally-friendly modes of transportation.
Xiong Yan, the Chairman of the Board of the Beijing Environment Exchange, stated that the innovative Low-Carbon Credit Card released by the Beijing Environment Exchange and the Industrial Bank offers a convenient and economic means for Chinese citizens to actively take part in carbon emissions reduction and become “carbon neutral”. It is also an effective means for citizens to express their support for environmental protection and public welfare. As a partner, the Beijing Environment Exchange will provide all-around support for the China Low-Carbon Credit Card, and will regularly announce carbon credit transactions attributable to the card, thereby ensuring that carbon reductions are “measurable, reportable and auditable”.
Developing a low-carbon economy and a low-carbon society is impossible without the widespread participation and active innovation of Chinese companies and citizens. In accordance with the concept of sustainable development, the Industrial Bank and t he Beijing Environment Exchange have integrated financial products with voluntary emissions reduction through financial innovation. This has not only promoted the sustainable development of financial institutions, but has also encouraged people to take part in green consumption and lead a low-carbon life. This helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, brings about desirable environmental and social benefits and represents a pioneering contribution to low-carbon economic growth and the development of a low-carbon society in China.