Research your partners to understand how their offerings support your sustainability goals
A majority of consumers and businesses are looking for ways to be better stewards of environmental resources. A Mastercard survey found 58% of respondents are now more mindful of their impact on the earth, and 85% are willing to take meaningful action to protect the environment.
Digital processes are proven to have less of an impact on the environment than paper-based options. An example is sustainable payments, which are an excellent choice for businesses that want to align with their consumers to prioritize sustainability.
What Are Sustainable Payments?
Sustainable payments require companies to work together to lower emissions, decrease energy consumption, and use materials that aren’t harmful to the earth. This includes payment terminal manufacturing, payment card production, cloud services, and processing services.
While no payment process will ever be truly “green” because it has zero impact on the environment, a reasonable definition for sustainable payments is payment solutions and services designed for a minimal ecological impact.
How to Achieve Sustainable Payments
Payment technology companies committed to environmental responsibility need a comprehensive strategy to achieve sustainable payments. Ingenico, for example, takes action in the following ways:
- Reduced emissions
Payment terminal manufacturing must be carefully planned and monitored to minimize pollutant emissions. However, it takes a broader look at all processes, for example, emissions from transporting raw materials and finished products. With the global growth rate for payment terminal installation at about 3%, controlling emissions from their production and transportation can make a big impact.
- Eco-friendly design
It’s also important to step back and evaluate terminal design from a sustainability perspective. Our strategy includes finding more earth-friendly design alternatives that won’t diminish product quality. We also set a goal of producing a terminal that uses less energy when deployed. Our new terminal design uses no toxic materials, contains 20% less plastic, and is 27% more energy efficient in idle mode.
- Track the use of raw materials
Once the best materials are determined for production, it’s also vital to look at how they’re mined or produced and sourced so they travel the minimum distance possible to production plants.
- Encourage repairs and recycling
Our payment terminals are built to last, but we encourage repairs rather than replacement when possible. And when it is time to replace, we encourage responsible recycling instead of disposal.
- Support employee education
Great plans are only effective if you have an educated team capable of executing them. Sustainable payments depend on payment technology company team members understanding the importance of the work they do to minimize waste, emissions, and energy use.
The Importance of Partnership
Your company has its own goals when it comes to being good stewards of our environment. However, the partners you choose can have an enormous impact on whether or not you ever achieve those goals. A partner that offers sustainable payments solutions can help you make significant progress toward achieving your goals for a greener operation.
Working with Ingenico enables you to work with a partner whose commitment to the environment is as strong as yours. Contact us to learn more.
