Santander's Green Banking Approach Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2024

Green banking is a novel approach to banking, in which financial institutions play an active role in promoting sustainability by both engaging with sustainable finance and by empowering customers to live greener lifestyles.

It all starts with money. At play here is how money enables the society we live in. In the age of green banking, sustainability comes down to choices around where your money is kept and what it does. It’s about choice. This can take the form of institutional investing, for example when a bank decides between funding a fossil fuel intensive coal factory or a clean energy wind farm. But it also involves consumers at the store deciding whether or not to put the steak in their shopping cart or opt for more climate-friendly produce instead. The main obstacle to meaningfully engaging in climate action is the reliable access to good, reliable information.

There are two main facets to a green banking strategy. The first is the most common and instinctual reaction banks have when engaging with sustainability, namely an internal environmental audit.

In practice, this approach results in banks exploring options to reduce their environmental impact through in-house operational changes, such as overhauls to employee travel policies or switching to 100% renewable energy.

The second facet to a green banking strategy focuses on customer centricity. It’s one thing to generate real impact on a company level but scaling impact across all customer segments is another game entirely. And the effect it has could be one of the most powerful tools available to beat climate change.