FinTech Going Green: 7 Companies Built on Promoting Environmental Sustainability

Social movements are powerful and heavily influential in this day and age of innovation. Social justice communities are arguably the loudest they’ve ever been with the help of social media platforms and news-sharing outlets. 

People can express their thoughts and ideas to audiences on these platforms, allowing interactivity. It could be argued that as a result of this acceptance, justice and initiative are now the public's language. With activism comes brands aiming to connect with consumers by taking a position. 

Among the major initiatives of today is eco-friendliness, which in 2022 contributes to the majority of consumers' desire to support a brand or product. There is a genuine desire to save the planet that brands can materialize by promoting and creating opportunities to fund sustainability. 

Recently in Canada, for example, the government has said they’re going to require every vehicle sold in 2035 to be entirely electric. Another example is big players like Google, Apple, and Amazon, who promised to take drastic measures to minimize their carbon footprint. One last example is The Climate Clock in New York City at the Metronome which counts down how much time there is until damage to the climate becomes irreversible.

Environmental sustainability is a factor that is increasingly prevailing as a pillar of businesses' survival during this time. More than 65% of executives deem it “necessary” for market survival in 2022. It’s non-negotiable then for financial institutions to contribute to this movement and “go green”. 

We could say that this is one of the greatest approaches to public relations an organization could take at the moment, but that would be rather redundant in contrast to what some of these companies have done and are doing. With that being said, here are some initiatives from businesses in the FinTech realm that have based their approach on some form of environmental sustainability:

1. TreeCard

This unique initiative focuses on reforesting areas worldwide while simultaneously eliminating plastic. A TreeCard is a credit card made of wood. The business model works through the company taking a fee on a per-usage basis from the merchant. 

This accumulation of fees then goes to planting trees on behalf of the customers. It should be mentioned that typically, this fee would be taken as profit, but TreeCard puts 80% toward their replanting initiative. 

2. Stripe Climate

Stripe is a major entity in the financial industry. They launched Stripe Climate as a way for businesses to donate 1% of their profits to fund the development of carbon removal technologies. 

From a business perspective, this is brilliant, especially since participating organizations will receive a badge from Stripe for their clients to see (which we could even dare to call free marketing).

3. Joro

This app hit the mark for its target audience beautifully through its slogan, which states “build a solution as big as the problem”. Joro partnered with FinTech giant Plaid to reduce the impact of carbon emissions. 

They make this possible by tracking users' purchases and displaying graphs in the app for users to see where their spending is going and how it impacts their carbon footprint. Someone using Joro will effectively be able to steer their spending habits in an environmentally friendly direction.

4. Raise Green

Many people love to support their local communities as opposed to something global. Raise Green allows users to find businesses nearby that have green initiatives (this technology is backed by IBM). 

Once someone has found a cause that interests them, they can invest and own a piece of that project. Users enjoy the transparency of this platform; once they’ve invested, they can watch their investment generate clean energy (that is measured in kWh).

5. Trine

The first thing that sticks out about Trine’s branding is the one-liner that goes “For people, for the planet, for profit”. This ethos is perfect for their brand since the goal is to be transparent while spreading awareness of their product in addition to environmental issues that users can support. 

The business model is constructed as a peer-to-peer loan platform that aims at supporting solar energy initiatives. Users can get involved by investing in these projects starting at a minimum of $25. In 2022, the platform has seen investments from more than 10,000 people. 

6. Treelion

Here is an organization that beautifully exemplifies what it means to be a sustainable FinTech company. Their product is providing a decentralized network for businesses to track and manage their digital eco-friendly products through blockchain. 

Their product effectively becomes an enabler for the creation, development, and flow of capital, among green digital economies and ecosystems.

7. Aspiration

This platform is a doubleheader. One that solves the needs of the planet through reforestation, and one that supports people’s future by providing an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). 

Both features are made possible by using an aspiration card which rounds up every dollar spent and uses spare change to plant trees. The IRA is created by users investing in sustainable businesses, allowing you to save on taxes by opting to defer them until you retire. 

The Benefit of Green Finance

Digital banking is already more beneficial to the environment in comparison to traditional banking, which one can glean from the sheer elimination of driving to the bank, paper statements, and delivery of statements. If we’re going to state that FinTech is paving the way to an environmentally sustainable future, we need to step back and realize why that is.

First of all, finance is the only way people can function in the world day-to-day, nonetheless building a future. So, this is something everyone uses. Imagine if something every person uses was directly benefiting the sustainability of the world. This is a necessary movement. This is not to say that every business should base their model on it, but to have options aligned with this movement would be the ideal situation.

What’s Next?

In this section, we saw some green FinTechs that worked to create sustainability using B2B and B2C approaches. At this point, these businesses have strides to make before they become profitable. It is a new approach for FinTechs that shows promise for the future in terms of business and environmental sustainability. What matters most for organizations looking to get started in this sector is having the right software to support their efforts.

Written By Ben Brown

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ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.

Hiring Software Developers as a Start-up in 2022: What You Need To Know

Every startup will be anxious to get their product on the market as fast as possible. Getting out there will give you healthy exposure and show you how you’ll need to maneuver to succeed. Additionally, you want to get ahead of the competition and promote/develop based on experience. This is crucial but takes time, and if you want to know how to be as efficient as possible during that time, you’ve come to the right place.

When it comes to hiring software developers as a startup, there is no shortage of routes one can take, but realistically, an outside development team is your best bet. The reason being is that while the external team is taking on the project, the business can focus on planning, marketing, and promotion. Getting your name out and dropping the reel into the market's water is just as important as having a product worth buying, otherwise, you’re just fishing in the desert. With that being said, let's get into the meat and potatoes of how you can hire a team of developers:

Difficulties of searching today

It’s only fitting that you’re aware of the obstacles that go into recruiting software developers in this day and age before you begin scouting. Hiring developers is an unavoidable task for start-ups since new businesses will likely not have an experienced team from the get-go. Building a team of developers involves finding and adding members which typically comes with its own batch of challenges. Here are three general speed bumps you can expect:

Shortage of local talent: For companies, there are many beneficial aspects when it comes to hiring locally since they’re more accessible than, say, working with someone in a different timezone. Unfortunately, talent shortages are very prominent. According to Gartner, talent shortages account for over 60% of the barriers to adopting new technologies. Surprisingly, this is well ahead of costs and security measures. This fact impacts the biggest and smallest companies, which means start-ups are certainly not exempt.  

Retaining talent: In cases where a startup has secured highly experienced and skilled software developers, there is no certainty that they will retain them. One of the biggest factors in this issue is that larger-scale companies are facing the same talent shortage as everyone else. This means they typically have more to offer in terms of perks and compensation than what a startup could offer to talented programmers.

Managing the budget: When a new company is hiring in-house, they will have to be very mindful of what finances will be allocated to taxes, onboarding, social security, equipment, etc. In a lot of cases, these costs add up to something new businesses simply cannot afford. In this case, businesses find software development outsourcing companies to be far more beneficial.

How outsourcing can benefit you

All hope is not lost when it comes to hiring developers in 2022. Some outsourcing service providers have identified the challenge and built an approach to make it work. Here are just a few of the benefits that come from the outsourcing model:

Big talent pool: Going the outsourcing route opens up companies' access to all sorts of technology specialists, niche market experts, and developmental expertise. Additionally, software development outsourcing businesses have teams and talent to cover a very diverse range of IT needs (Cloud Computing, DevOps, UI/UX design, etc).

Budget-friendly: Recall that one of the challenges with hiring in-house developers is having the incentives to offer associated with living and compensation. By outsourcing, companies reduce costs significantly since they are handing their project over to a company responsible for their employees as well as your needs. This is especially helpful when it comes to taking the arrangements for workspaces and equipment off your plate.

Scalability and flexibility: Outsourcing services are usually very flexible and accommodative. Team sizes can be maneuvered to fit the needs of the project by bringing in the right talent and number of individuals for different tasks.

At this point, we’ve established where the hiccups are in hiring a development team and how to avoid them. Ultimately, every startup wants to put itself in the best possible position to succeed down the road, and that starts with identifying goals. New businesses will then want their projects built around these goals which is why experienced developers are so valuable to startups. With that being said, here is the step-by-step process for startups hiring software developers:

Step 1: Define your project’s goals and the requirements of your product

Before you even pick up the phone looking for developers, you need to identify the scope of your project and outline it clearly. Get specific, and lay out the goals and requirements vividly, as well as business and technical specifications. 

Figure out who’s going to be in charge of the team— you’ll need project managers for your end, the vendor, or even a solo project manager. A major priority must be finding someone to take care of UI/UX design unless you already have that arranged. Key tip: Having already built a prototype makes the transfer of design to the developers far easier. 

Lastly, keep the deadline on the front burner to ensure every process can be ready in time. This is non-negotiable for projects in a startup. With everything put together, your list should look something like this:

• Requirements

• Project scope outlined

• UI/UX design ready

• Features are clear and categorized

• Allocate management

• Budget

• Timeline

• Find developers

Once this is complete, you can move on to your search for developers.

Step 2: Outline communication standards

After defining your requirements, you’ll need to understand how your partnership with the software development company is going to flow. In most cases, service providers will have plenty of options for cooperation so that you can decide which best fits your requirements.

If you’re more so in the market for a team of software specialists, then the service provider can assign a whole team of IT specialists who are experts with your requirements. Typically this will include a project manager, UI/UX designers, front and back-end developers, and more. In most cases, these teams operate according to the time and material your project needs.

Ultimately, the startup will want to be incredibly transparent with developers to ensure every necessary measure is taken.

Step 3: Think about where the outsourcing company is located

Outsourcing companies exist all over the world, which can make it easy to get lost when trying to find the best one for you. You’ll want to shop around and think about the potential communication barriers (eg. time zone or language).

The United States alone accounts for over 300,000 outsourced jobs annually, contributing over $60 billion to the $92 billion industry. Still, Canada is a primary destination for American companies looking to outsource nearshore. 

The ISU Core

The ISU Core is a foundation platform that can save you up to 70% of implementation costs, and you own all the source code. The best part is our pre-built features like Intelligent Dashboards, Emailing Capabilities, Secure Authentication, Simple User Interface, and much more. It’s also mobile, web, and desktop ready. Your solution can be up and running in just days.

The Takeaway

Hiring your development team is a critical stepping stone for a startup. As you’ve hopefully grasped by now, this is not something to be taken lightly as it can make or break your success as a company. You’ll want to have dedicated plenty of critical thinking time to the project and its scope. 

When all is put together, the last piece is choosing whether you want an in-house team or a custom software development company like ISU Corp. The decision is going to be unique to your business and what you think is best based on the scope you’ve created.

Written By Ben Brown

—

ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.

How Big of a Threat is FinTech to Traditional Banking?

The entire concept of banking as we’ve known it is changing. The difference between banking in years to come and years prior will soon seem worlds apart. Commonly discussed are the impacts that modern financial technology has had on the banking sector and the generations of consumers growing up with access to it. This has made the debate between contemporary and traditional banking very much back and forth. What we’re seeing are FinTech companies who are taking over the banking sector but also looking for partnership opportunities with banks. The question then becomes, what is in the best interest of consumers? 

It’s been repeated time and time that convenience is the primary driver of usage in addition to how easy a product or service is to understand and incorporate into day-to-day living. What we haven’t dived too far into is whether this will be enough in the long term, which is what both sides are still trying to pay attention to and plan for today. The issue in a lot of cases with financial technology is that something will make a lot of noise, people will trust it, and then it fails because it hasn’t been time-tested. In this section, we’re going to diagnose whether the FinTech industry and banks can secure a long-term triumph.

What is the goal of FinTech?

FinTech companies want to be the banks of the future and make banking easier, less intimidating, engaging, and transparent. There have been many different attempts at this and adjustments made by brands to be unique in a cluttered market. Notice this difference first; traditional banking is what consumers associate with standing in line for a teller, going out to withdraw cash, or having meetings with advisors that are long and confusing. 

People associate FinTech with E-transfer, cryptocurrency, or Artificial Intelligence, which are what consumers believe in as the future. The young demographic specifically is a big promoter of this technology and is more likely to be influential in all directions. What’s next is to ask where the happy medium is and how both parties can meet there.

Let’s start by saying that technology in the past was meant to introduce everyday routines like communication and entertainment to the internet. Since that has been established, technology today is being built to automate, innovate, and produce products that keep people engaged and wanting more. This is the goal of not just financial technology but almost every innovation we’re seeing and have seen, to create a future that promotes sustainability and flexibility. 

What has it done for the job market?

Nowadays, working in IT is all hype due to the variety of roles someone can take on as well as the demand for talented individuals. Let’s also not forget the interest people have in office-home balance which is likely to be found when working in a technology company. Worldwide, the FinTech industry employs over 300,000 people; North America alone accounts for around 160,000 of them. The trend is rising which makes this a scary stat for commercial banks who still have the majority of workers for the time being. Soon, those categories of workers could merge under one umbrella.  

In the mind of a consumer in 2022, the line between banks and FinTech has become blurry and this is now why commercial banks are making an effort to build relationships with FinTech companies. Consider that this year alone the United States has seen north of 30,000 FinTech startups and the country's industry is worth almost $200 billion. It doesn’t take an expert to see that this is a growing consumer and job market, primed for the future. 

FinTech vs Commercial Banking

In the coming years, some experts are predicting that we can expect to see almost every financial services provider categorized under FinTech (and most already are). Now, this doesn’t mean the extinction of banks altogether, it just means banks are gradually taking on a form that’s viable for the future. Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that the ones who don’t embrace this change will be left in the dark down the road. 

Look at Visa, being around for over 60 years, the third biggest provider in the world, with almost half a trillion dollar valuation, and embracing the transition into FinTech. But what did Visa see in this industry to want to invest in it? Visa promotes partnerships between banks and FinTechs and wants to set an example. This move benefits them in numerous ways, most notably the fast-tracked ability for companies to integrate FinTech. No surprise then that this program has earned the name Visa Fast Track which is aimed to promote the global adoption of FinTech services, particularly for banking startups.

Banks approach

Many institutions have seen the rise of FinTech as a chance to compete and give some to get some. Unwilling to give up the power that easily, some banks want to be the parent of FinTech startups. In their efforts to reap these rewards, legacy banks have begun opening accounts for startups which leads us to the highly remunerative business model; Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS). Since legally registered startups need a bank account, BaaS wants to be their lender and effectively their ladder to establish credibility.

The way this works is that the FinTech (third party) will use APIs to connect to the bank's system which will then allow them to offer the same services as a bank to the end-user. For consumers, this makes the experience of using third-party services flawless and safe while also establishing rapport for the startup or entity.

What’s next?

So, what will the future look like for banks and FinTechs? The answer is simple: unpredictable. Nobody knows what circumstances will come within the next year, 5 years, or 10 years. One thing is for certain; banks and FinTechs need each other right now. Of course, there will be disruptions that force pivots, but for both sides, that is a bridge to cross when they get there.

Written By Ben Brown

—

ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.