Singapore-based lender UOB has announced that its retail banking customers across the Asean region will be able to access personalized carbon insights based on their spending and saving behaviours. Carbon Insights, the latest feature of its UOB TMRW digital banking platform, calculates, tracks and benchmarks a customer’s carbon footprint automatically. It also helps customers build awareness of their carbon impact and encourage them to take positive actions towards adopting more sustainable lifestyles, the bank says.

The feature not only calculates, tracks and benchmarks a customer’s carbon footprint automatically, it will also help customers build awareness of their carbon impact and encourage them to take positive actions towards adopting more sustainable lifestyles.

UOB says an in-depth consumer research it has undertaken reveals specific insights on customer perceptions of carbon emissions, climate change and sustainability. For example, a survey with 100 customers in Singapore this year identified significant interest by customers on being presented information that is easy to understand (88% interested) and provides tips on how to offset their personal carbon emissions (85%) within their banking app. In addition, 50% of the customers say they would be interested in taking up sustainability challenges and games that help them engage personally with issues and solutions related to climate change.

Kevin Lam, head of TMRW and group digital banking, says: “At UOB, we are powering innovation across Asean for a sustainable future. We are excited to be at the forefront of developing an Asean-first carbon insights solution for our customers. In doing so, we hope to empower our customers with actionable insights to live more sustainably. This latest initiative is another example of how through a customer-centric approach, we are making digital banking of tomorrow simpler, smarter and more engaging.”

In October UOB was awarded the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) proof-of-concept (POC) grant for the project. The FSTI POC grant provides funding support for experimentation, development, and dissemination of nascent innovative technologies in the financial services sector.