By agreeing to leverage their respective technologies and expertise, the two companies intend to enable digital banking consumers to better understand exactly where they are spending money, and visualize the environment or societal impact such transactions generate. In time, these services will also help consumers make better choices as well.
For example, under this partnership a banking consumer will be able to not only visualize things such as the as the carbon footprint generated by spending, but explore suggestions to offset carbon emissions and boost spending at more environmentally or socially-friendly merchants nearby.
Ulrich Pietsch, ecolytiq CEO commented on the announcement: “By combining the best of our expertise areas, this new partnership will prove mutually beneficial by refining our carbon footprinting technologies even further and making them more accessible. Snowdrop is an important partner to help paint a fuller picture behind each transaction.”
The Sustainability-as-a-Service® software from ecolytiq calculates personalised environmental impact values, such as CO2, on the basis of payment transactions – with the aim of shifting consumers’ behaviour towards more sustainable consumption. Through today’s announced collaboration with Snowdrop, ecolytiq will be able to successfully implement highly accurate digital enrichment capabilities, providing banking clients with even more precise categorisation of where consumers spend, including enriched data, such as the clean merchant name, brand logo and location of merchants.
“The combination of ecolytiq’s carbon footprint capabilities with our highly precise location and transaction enrichment MRS technology means we can help a wide range of corporations offer more accurate, clear and insightful services that actually influence consumer behavior,” said Ken Hart, CEO and founder of London-based Snowdrop. He added that “by working closely with Visa the two companies will accelerate the uptake of new digital banking services.”
Both ecolytiq and Snowdrop Solutions enrich sustainability data including social and governance aspects along with a carbon footprint feature. With this addition, Snowdrop’s Transaction Enrichment API, called MRS, will be enhanced with data not only related to the individual impact the user’s purchasing behaviour is having on the environment, but also offers context around these calculations through climate insights that encourage climate action and sustainable lifestyles.
David Rubin, Head of Component and Partner Hub, added, “We are thrilled that Visa Fintech Partner Connect partners Snowdrop Solutions and ecolytiq have joined forces to enhance their offerings. By providing a richer and more engaging experience, customers are given a new level of transparency and relevance of the impact their payment transactions have on the environment. Access to this combined information will facilitate cardholders’ ability to actively make a difference towards a greener economy through their purchasing habits.”
Initially, the two companies will focus on the European banking sector and work closely with Visa as part of the latter’s FinTech Connect program.
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About ecolytiq
The Sustainability-as-a-Service® solution from ecolytiq enables banks, fintech companies and financial service providers to show their customers the individual impact their purchasing behaviour is having on the environment in real time. The ecolytiq software calculates personal environmental impacts, such as CO2 values, on the basis of payment transactions. In November 2020, ecolytiq joined the Visa Fintech Partner Connect programme in Europe, enabling banks to seamlessly implement their sustainability strategies using payment data. www.ecolytiq.com
Media contact ecolytiq: media@ecolytiq.com
About Snowdrop Solutions
Snowdrop Solutions Ltd. helps organisations create compelling, intuitive digital experiences for their consumers by enriching data with precise location, enhanced information and advanced mapping expertise covering over 200 million merchants and points of information worldwide.
Based in the United Kingdom, Snowdrop operates across Europe, Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia, working with leading firms in the financial services, real estate and travel sectors.
The Snowdrop Merchant Reconciliation System™ is a highly scalable API that processes billions of transactions for FinTechs, payment and crypto providers, banks and others. Powered by Google Maps and Cloud, the service takes in messy payment processing data and returns real-time enriched information results including:
Known as Snowdrop MRS, the service is deployed currently at leading firms such as Nationwide Building Society, Standard Chartered Bank, Wirex, Nickel, RebellionPay, HugoSave, Cashplus and many others. In addition to increasing consumer engagement and trust from the results outlined above, it also generates valuable spending insights whilst significantly reducing call center, chargebacks and other operational charges for banks.
As a Google Maps and Cloud Premier Partner since 2013, the company also provides optimized Google Maps licenses, advanced technical support, analytics and customer care. Also, Snowdrop is a key partner of Visa’s Fintech Partner Connect programme for data enrichment services for Visa clients across Europe and Asia Pacific.
For more information, please visit: www.snowdropsolutions.co.uk
Media contact Snowdrop Solutions: Ana Cantero | Snowdrop Solutions | ana@snowdropsolutions.co.uk
About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. For more information, visit our website (www.visa.co.uk), blog (https://www.visa.co.uk/visa-everywhere/blog.html), and @VisaUK.
About Fintech Partner Connect
More information about the Fintech Partner Connect programme can be found here. Companies interested in accessing Fintech Partner Connect will be able to begin collaboration from today through contacting fintechconnecteurope@visa.com.
