Qatar’s main digital financial institution, Qatar Islamic Financial institution (QIB) has teamed up with Visa and sustainability-as-a-service innovator ecolytiq to assist prospects higher perceive the environmental affect of their monetary exercise.
“This partnership marks a monumental shift available in the market,” ecolytiq co-founder and Managing Director Davis Lais mentioned. “Local weather engagement in banking is coming to Qatar.”
Courtesy of the partnership, QIB will combine a brand new Carbon Emission Tracker characteristic into its cell app. The tracker will assist foster environmental consciousness amongst banking prospects and encourage climate-friendly spending habits and consumption habits. The expertise will even allow QIB to find out the carbon footprint created from its retail banking prospects spending exercise and use that information to refine each particular transactions in addition to buyer profiles.
Lais added, “Our revolutionary work with QIB and Visa is giving banking prospects in Qatar extra transparency and option to reside sustainably. We’re proud to have been chosen to assist QIB information their prospects by way of the complexity of the environmental disaster by making this a elementary a part of QIB’s banking expertise. QIB has determined to embrace the way forward for banking by being part of it.”
The brand new partnership follows the discharge of QIB’s third sustainability report. The report articulated the financial institution’s sustainability initiatives, noting progress in steps taken to handle climate-related dangers. This consists of QIB’s adoption of the Equator Ideas, making ESG considerations part of the financial institution’s danger administration course of.
This month, QIB was named “2023 Financial institution of the 12 months in Qatar” by The Banker journal, a Monetary Instances publication. In accepting the award, QIB Group CEO Bassel Gamal referenced the banks efforts towards better sustainability. “We’ve assumed a considerable function in championing the shift in the direction of a extra sustainable financial system, incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) components in our credit score evaluation and danger administration processes, thus selling sustainable practices amongst our company debtors.”
Established in 1982, Doha, Qatar-based, QIB reported complete belongings of greater than $4.6 billion (QAR 187 billion) this yr. The financial institution has 23 branches, greater than 170 ATMs, and roughly 36% of the overall belongings of home Sharia-compliant banks.
ecolytiq’s partnership with QIB is the fintech’s second massive win in MENA in as many months. In November, ecolytiq – together with Visa – labored with Dubai-based Mashreq to facilitate the launch of the financial institution’s local weather banking platform. The platform overlays carbon emissions calculations onto transaction information, and leverages superior carbon footprint analytics to personalize local weather insights.
Based in 2020 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, ecolytiq launched itself to Finovate audiences at our builders convention, FinDEVR 2021. Along with its financial institution partnerships, ecolytiq additionally has teamed up with numerous fintechs. These embody partnerships with fellow Finovate alums Mambu in July and Tink in June. Mambu will make ecolytiq’s sustainability-as-a-service resolution out there by way of its market that serves greater than 100 million finish customers. The Tink partnership will embed ecolytiq’s carbon monitoring companies and different sustainability options into its open banking platform.
“Pairing open banking with sustainable banking is nice information for monetary establishments trying to make a distinction,” ecolytiq co-founder and Managing Director Ulrich Pietsch mentioned.
Photograph by Abdullah Ghatasheh
