Barclays, Mastercard, and other leading fintechs are joining forces for a new challenge. The Cards & Payments Challenge seeks to redefine how consumers spend, to reduce the carbon footprint of everyday financial transactions.
New Cards & Payments Challenge Seeks to Make Everyday Consumption More Sustainable
New Energy Nexus and a variety of financial partners are joining forces for the new Cards & Payments Challenge. The Challenge seeks to catalyze innovation across the financial sector to address climate change and involves major names like Barclays US, Mastercard, Rise, Doconomy, and Patch.
About the Cards & Payments Challenge
According to a press release, the Challenge’s goal is to help inform how we spend, what we buy, and how payments are handled – making everyday consumption more sustainable. Key focus areas of the Cards & Payments Challenge (C&P Challenge) include:
- Retail & Commercial Carbon Accounting & Footprinting
- Sustainable eCommerce Connectivity
- Green Digital Wallets & Mobile Payment
- Sustainability Gamification & Incentivization
- Reward Program Points and Benefit Structures for Emissions Offsetting or Renewable Energy
- API Integration and “Green Open Banking”
- Building a digestible “Green Score” & Consumer Education
- Blockchain & DLT applications in sustainability
- Insurance and related products
- Additional Integration with Online Banking and Investment Products
The C&P Challenge offers a $100,000 prize to the winning startup. The goal of the Challenge is to introduce and boost climate innovation in the digital payments space with established financial stakeholders.
Additional C&P Challenge Details
The open application period for the C&P Challenge runs from September 7 to October 1, 2021. Interested fintech startups can apply for the C&P Challenge here, hosted participants at the Rise Accelerator space in Manhattan during Climate Week NYC. All participants will have access to world-class facilities and the opportunity to craft their products and build their network.
Ten finalists will be selected in late October, and these companies will receive additional mentorship in matchmaking over three weeks, culminating in a demo day and prizes in November. In addition to cash prizes, participants will be given access to sponsor Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), offering finalists direct access to relevant data.
Prizes in the Challenge will be announced in November, with the top three finalists receiving non-dilutive grants.
“Working Towards a Sustainable Future”
“Our team is thrilled to launch the Cards and Payments Challenge with an incredible roster of strategic partners, together supporting fintech startups and innovations, which aim to catalyze equitable decarbonization. We welcome applications from around the world,” said Danny Kennedy, CEO at New Energy Nexus in the release.
“Rise knows the importance of climate fintech startups to financial services, and we are excited to host the challenge in New York,” added Brian Luciani, Head of Rise New York. “It’s inspiring to work with our partners in support of fintech founders who are working towards a sustainable future and to keep Barclays at the forefront of fintechs working on climate innovations.”
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Featured image by Climate Fintech/ Cards & Payments Challenge
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