Tandem Marketplace goes live to help customers reduce carbon footprint

Tandem Marketplace will provide the digital bank’s customers with information and resources about making greener living choices

UK-based Tandem Bank has launched Tandem Marketplace, a hub that provides its customers with information and resources to make greener living choices, tackle climate change and save money on their energy bills. 

The first phase of Marketplace provides information to retrofit customers’ home and connects them to the digital bank’s home improvement partners, including Anglian Home Improvements, Project Better Energy and British Gas.  

Ideas suggested include solar panels, boiler upgrades and smart technology. Installing solar panels would cost approximately £5,500, save a household roughly £500 a year and reduce carbon emissions by 0.78 tonnes, Tandem said.  

Commenting on the new platform, Tandem’s chief impact and marketing officer, Georgina Whalley, said: “We are in the middle of a climate crisis and a cost-of-living crisis. People shouldn’t have to choose between heating and eating. This is why we have created our Marketplace, people need more information and support to make greener choices.” 

Almost 19m people in the UK are unaware, unwilling or unsupported on how to approach greener living, according to Tandem’s research. 

The research also shows that almost 35% of UK emissions comes from households, highlighting the need to make them more sustainable. 

Whalley added: “Our Marketplace provides a dedicated resource to help people take action and ultimately save money on energy bills. I’m delighted that it’s now live, but equally excited to continue to develop how Tandem supports everyday people with banking for a greener future.” 

Tandem’s green initiative arrives as customers increasingly look for a more sustainable way to bank and live. Research carried out by Cogo showed that 62% of banking customers want their bank to help them reduce their environmental impact. 

Initiatives such as Tandem’s Marketplace have shown they can reduce the carbon footprint of consumers. A pilot scheme between Cogo and NatWest, which estimates a person’s carbon footprint from their purchases in the NatWest app, showed that the average user saved approximately 11kg of CO2 emissions per month by committing to behavioural changes that used less carbon, such as reducing meat consumption, composting or switching utility providers. 

Having green credentials can also be beneficial for banks. It can attract conscious consumers, engage users and help SMEs transition to net zero, Cogo reported. 

The rise of open banking and the consensual sharing of data within financial services should also make it easier for financial institutions to collaborate with fintechs to deliver these kinds of carbon management products, Cogo claimed, as greater insight into consumer habits will deliver targeted opportunities. 

Image: Tandem  

Josh Poyser Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.