Bigger than the Numbers

The association between finance and technology hasn’t just change the financial industry, but it has really changed the way we go about our lives. Even though things like debit and credit cards, netbanking, and mobile payments looked like a luxury at the beginning, they have now successfully ingrained themselves into the fabric of our daily life. This didn’t happen by chance though. We had to get over our doubts about technology’s viability when it comes to finance, and once we did that, our lives were never practically the same. The introduction of fintech had a direct impact on many of our habits. It changed the way we shopped, invested, and even saved. Nowadays, we even see people trading stocks online, thus further fuelling the digitization of finance. However, one thing that fintech has so far failed to achieve, despite all its technical brilliance, is the goal of completely replenishing the industry’s reputation. Finance industry has always carried a reputation of being all about the numbers. Its lack of thoughtfulness about others aspects has brought the sector a fair amount of criticism over the past, and if you take a survey even today, you’d see most people still having a similar opinion of the industry. Nevertheless, things could very well be on the cusp of changing. Financial institutions are finally realizing the need of fulfilling their non-monetary obligations, and in an attempt to rectify their wrongs, the industry’s leaders are looking for ways through which they can give it back to the world. New Energy Nexus has given them a perfect platform to achieve that very purpose.

New Nexus Energy, a global network of accelerators and funders of climate solutions, has formally announced the launch of its Climate Fintech: Cards & Payments Challenge. Backed by Rise (Barclays US Consumer Bank), MasterCard, Doconomy, and Patch, the challenge basically encourages the super-sized financial institutions to collaborate with fresh-off-the-ground start-ups and develop digital financial climate solutions. The challenge is reportedly open to accept a host of digital financial solutions that can fall anywhere across categories like digital payments, credit assessment, digital wallet, rewards, benefits, and insurance etc.

What the challenge is essentially trying to achieve is decarbonisation and more organized efforts towards saving the planet. In their statement, the network also shed some light on the specific solutions they were hoping to create through this challenge. The list included things like API integration & Green Open banking, sustainable e-commerce connectivity, building a digestible Green Score, and many more.

To add a pinch of motivation for the participants, there will also be a $100,000 cash prize for the winner. The challenge is expected to be wrapped by 1^st October, 2021.