SECORA Pay Green by Infineon Technologies is paving the way for more sustainable payment cards, and has motivated Mastercard to admit Infineon into its Greener Payments Partnership (GPP) advisory council.
Mastercard, among with other industry partners, are collaborating on reducing plastic usage in the payment card industry and seeking more sustainable alternatives.
Progress has already been made in the realm of increased reuse of materials, improved recyclability at the end of a card's life cycle, and reduced overall volume of plastic used in Mastercard-branded cards. Infineon is contributing to these efforts with its expertise in reducing CO2 emissions in a sustainable chip and module production. With SECORA Pay Green, Infineon provides the technical basis to produce fully recyclable dual-interface contactless payment cards without additional card antenna.
According to ABI Research customers are increasingly attracted to financial institutions that emphasise sustainable banking practices. In addition, more and more regulations and legal guidelines for environmental protection in the financial industry are emerging. The number of payment cards made from recycled PVC (rPVC) is forecast to increase to around 1.2 billion cards shipped worldwide by 2028, almost five times the 226 million cards shipped in 2022.
“With the introduction of SECORA Pay Green, we are not only setting a new standard for sustainable payment cards but also paving the way for a greener future in the payment industry,” said Tolgahan Yildiz, Head of the Trusted Mobile Connectivity and Transactions Product Line, Infineon. “By reducing CO2 emissions and facilitating recycling, we enable financial institutions and card issuers to make a positive contribution to environmental protection while meeting growing customer demand for eco-friendly solutions.”
“Our current product offerings have proven that payment cards with enhanced recyclability can be made from sources that reduce first use plastic usage,” added Joe Pitcher, Vice President of the Mastercard Sustainable Card Program. “To further drive development and CO2 abatement, we support innovations such as Infineon's SECORA Pay Green, which demonstrates innovative thinking and a willingness to redesign products to reduce their environmental impact.”
Going ahead, Mastercard and its partners will focus on assessing and reducing CO2 emissions across the entire card ecosystem, including the chip, module, and inlay. Infineon will support these efforts now as a member of Mastercard's Greener Payment Partnership. exceet Card Group, a European card manufacturer, has become the first to obtain its Mastercard Letter of Approval based on Infineon SECORA Pay Green to ship sustainable contactless payment cards without an additional card inlay.
