Sustainability has to become a core value for every market player

Anna Rácz
senior marketing specialist
Mastercard

– What does sustainability mean to a payment technology company?

– Being technology service providers, we aren’t among the big polluters, but by working directly with banks and financial services firms we can have great influence on sustainability efforts.

– How can a multinational company make even its sustainability efforts sustainable?

– Consumers want brands to play a pioneering role in making the world more sustainable. There is also internal motivation at Mastercard, for instance in Hungary the company’s Green Team is busy coming up with new ideas for our sustainability activities.

– What kind of global initiatives exist?

– One of the most important steps at macro level was launching the Priceless Planet Coalition in 2019: Mastercard set the target of planting 100 million trees in just 5 years, in cooperation with its partners.

– Who are your partners in this project in Hungary?

– OTP Bank has already joined the Priceless Planet Coalition. Another milestone was the Hungarian launch of the Mastercard Carbon Calculator: Gránit Bank was the first commercial bank in the world to start using it, integrating the solution into the bank’s own mobile banking app.

– How active are financial service providers in environmental protection?

– Market players are quite open in this respect and this is why Sustainable Initiative of the Year became a permanent category in the Mastercard – Bank of the Year competition. Every year there are more green programmes, campaigns and activities in the sector. (x)