While the use of physical cards and POS terminals in the payment systems world is gradually declining, positive developments that encourage the use of physical cards and POS terminals while also changing user habits continue.
One such example is the world's first wooden card, TreeCard. TreeCard is a free bank card backed by the green search engine Ecosia, aiming to help reforest the world through users' everyday payments. The goal is for 80% of the profit generated from transactions to be used directly for reforestation.
Set to launch in 2021 as the world's first wooden card, and running on Mastercard's infrastructure, the card stands out as environmentally friendly since it is made from wood instead of plastic.
According to the plans made, every $60 spent with TreeCard's wooden bank cards will mean the planting of one tree. Ecosia plans to start shipping its first cards in December.
With TreeCard, standard card features such as Chip/PIN transactions, contactless transactions, and mobile payment transactions can all be performed.
In addition, with TreeCard,
- Users can track their spending
- They can share their bills with friends
- They can monitor how many trees have been planted as a result of their spending.
If we look at some of the card's other standout features;
- 80% of the interchange revenue generated from purchases made with the Mastercard-branded card will be used to support reforestation efforts. Toward this goal, a partnership was formed with the Berlin-based search engine Ecosia, which supports reforestation efforts.
- No fee will be charged to cardholders for the card.
- Contactless-enabled cards can also be paired with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
- In accordance with certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), TreeCard, which uses cherry wood as the main material for the card, can produce 300,000 cards from the material obtained from a single tree.
- The plastic inside the card is obtained from recycled bottles.
- The trees will be closely monitored using satellite technology and field visits, and will only be counted if they survive for more than three years.
TreeCard's co-founder Jamie Fox said on the subject, "We're planning to acquire at least 100,000 subscribers. We believe this will allow us to finance the planting of 6 million trees. Based on the interest and sign-ups we receive from users worldwide, we'll be launching TreeCard in the US and a number of EU markets within the next twelve months."
As our longing for a greener, cleaner environment grows every day, the increase in this kind of project is very important for our future. It's also important for these kinds of projects to come to life out of payment systems products, for the transition of payments from cash to digital.
