Ecolytiq’s Anisha Mohil on Fintech’s environmental responsibility

Anisha Mohil, ecolytiq’s Impact & Sustainability Manager, spoke to FinTech Magazine at the Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS) 2023, where she discussed the company’s role as a provider of environmental solutions to the fintech industry.

“I think there is growing recognition around the benefits of working with a company like ecolytiq. More people are starting to connect the dots between the environment and how we spend. And naturally, as financial institutions, we deal with all this data. We know how people users, but historically the data has not been used to fight climate change – until now.”

Use of data for environmental purposes

For Mohil, utilizing the data solutions fintechs have can be very important for understanding the statistical impact and damage that occurs to the environment.

She adds: “There is a natural connection where we can create to get very clear, transparent understandings of where people create emissions. Our mission is to see how we can create more incremental change in this way, using financial interfaces and banking interfaces.

“So I think it’s exciting because there wasn’t always a lot of education around where the emissions came from, from the consumer perspective. But now with more digital technologies, there’s a lot more honesty about it. It becomes a lot more tangible when you can add a numerical number to your emissions.”

ecolytiq’s mission

Mohil discusses ecolytiq’s role in leveraging the tools fintechs use to collect data, and expands on the company’s mission – to improve consumer knowledge about how to become more sustainable.

“The whole mission of ecolytiq came from some important observations. It is estimated that about two-thirds of indirect and direct global emissions are a result of consumers’ purchasing decisions and their behavior around how they buy products. So it’s how people buy things, what they choose to buy, how they use them and how they dispose of them.

– The thing is that many consumers want to be more sustainable, but they don’t know how to get started. There are some barriers to that because consumption expenditure is always linked to some kind of emission value or climate impact. But we believe that consumers have the fundamental right to know not only the economic price tag of what they buy, but also the climate price of what they buy.”

The role financial institutions can play

With consumers wanting to know the climate “price” of the products they buy, Mohil reiterates the very valuable role financial institutions can play in telling consumers the environmental cost of their purchases.

She notes, “What’s cool is that financial companies and institutions can play a role in providing products that educate consumers. We see that consumers want greener financial products, there is a demand for them. Many businesses are now using it as an acquisition or retention tool, and a way to engage consumers and keep them on their platforms longer.

“We have also seen that you can build new products around it. For example, creating reward programs that motivate you to reduce your emissions. I think there is a lot of exciting potential there. We use the science behind all our solutions, such as applied behavior change concepts, to create our content. The positive results from this are good because it helps to confirm what we are trying to do.”