Consumers in the UK care more about their environmental impact than you think

Europe's open banking platform, Tink, has released data revealing the growing demand for environmental tracking tools among UK individuals.

Based on a survey of over 2,000 UK consumers and 113 senior retail banking executives, 40 per cent of respondents want their banks to provide tools for analysing their environmental impact, highlighting the opportunity for banks to play a larger role in assisting customers with their sustainability journey, especially as more people, businesses are now going green.

The research stated that an estimated 37 per cent would prefer their bank to do more to assist them in reducing their environmental impact. The report further revealed that 32 per cent of respondents specifically requested that their banks provide a consolidated view of their CO2 emissions across all of their bank accounts.

Despite a clear desire for tools to assist them manage their environmental impact through their bank, research indicated that only 17 per cent of banking clients actively use them, indicating a gap between desire and acceptance of these sustainability-related services.

Tink's study of banking executives shed light on the reasons for this difference. Only 24 per cent of banks already provide consumers with tools to calculate their carbon footprint depending on their spending. However, the research suggests that a further 40 per cent of banks are presently working on providing this service to their customers, with half claiming to be using a fintech collaboration to accomplish so. Furthermore, 30 per cent of banks said they would like to offer tools to assist customers track their carbon footprint, but have no plans to do so at the moment.

While this allows a greater number of consumers to gain access to the carbon monitoring tools they desire, it also shows that banks may do more to make clients aware of these capabilities when they become accessible.

Tasha Chouhan, Tink's UK & IE Banking Director, said: "It's great to see such a high number of customers wanting their banks to help them make more sustainable choices, and even better to see that many banks are already starting to deliver on this demand."

She added that for forward-thinking banks that already offer carbon tracking tools, now is the time for them to increase customer engagement to ensure people know how to easily access these tools. Chouhan also noted that such proactive banks will be in a great position to meet expectations and win the loyalty of both existing and new clients.

While many banks recognise the value of assisting clients on their sustainability journey, statistics indicate that not all financial institutions are investing in the opportunity. While Tink's research shows that 51 per cent of banks expect to continue or increase investment in sustainability-related products for consumers, a considerable minority (46%) plan to invest less or quit investing entirely.

Those who do not prioritise their sustainability offering risk losing out to banks that are already providing these capabilities to customers, with more than a quarter (28%) of customers indicating they would transfer to a different bank if they could see the environmental impact of their transactions.

Chouhan emphasised the necessity of banks not passing up the opportunity to compete on the basis of their sustainability products and boost consumer engagement. She emphasised that banks who are falling behind can swiftly catch up by including sustainability-focused elements into their services, due to collaborations with fintech firms.

Chouhan believes there is a bigger prize at stake. She noted the industry's chance to contribute to a more sustainable future by promoting the use of these technologies to assist customers in better understanding and managing their carbon footprint. "Which is why we collaborate with climate engagement solutions like ecolytiq, to make it simple for banks to plug in sustainability services and meet their clients," she added.