Just learned about this post on the bunq blog: https://www.bunq.com/blog/is-the-new-bunq-green-card-really-green
The math is quite interesting considered that they argue average groceries spendings are €140 in Amsterdam. That is way too low, but given that amount, how would you pay that with your Green Card as most Dutch merchants don’t accept MasterCard?
The other example they offer is the monthly rent. They gather that your landlord will accepts MasterCard for the monthly rent. As direct debits are way more common, you are not likely to plant any trees with your rent.
So, in the example in the blog, you’re going to spend €1.140 per month, without planting any tree, because you can’t use your MasterCard there. Spending another €200 on your gas bill and your phone and internet won’t get you a tree either, because they are all paid via direct debits.
By the way, on an average Dutch income of €1,500, you’ll have €160 left, of which you have to pay €8 per month to get the Green Card. So that leaves €152 to spend with your Green Card, which accumulates to a max of a whopping 1,52 tree per month, or 18,24 trees per year.
That is a bit less than the 136,8 trees they say your monthly expenses will get you a year. Even when you consider that the blog is actually on the greenness of the card itself, the numbers don’t add up.
Speaking of the greenness of the card, why not skip the whole card all together and make it a virtual card only? Why do I need a metal or plastic card when I can opt for ApplePay or Androids Tap&Pay?? That would be a whole lot greener than any physical card.
Or why not make the existing cards greener? Just add this feature to the plastic cards, so that no extra production materials are needed to get green?
