Premiere in Romania: Banca Transilvania kicks off the sustainable transformation on the card market

• The first card in Romania is environmentally friendly visa classic debit card, issued by BT and produced by IDEMIA.
• Transforming the Visa Classic card portfolio into an eco-friendly one means reducing the carbon footprint by 36%.
• BT has proposed that by 2022 all newly issued cards will be eco-friendly.
• By 2025, almost the entire portfolio of BT cards will be made of recycled plastic and biodegradable elements.

From now on, Banca Transilvania has in its portfolio environmentally friendly cards, made of recycled plastic and biodegradable elements. The first eco-friendly card in Romania is the BT Visa Classicdebit card, made in collaboration with IDEMIA,a global leader in augmented identity and in the industry of innovative payment technologies. In a first stage, new cards will be issued in this version, and later there will be those reissied as a result of the expiry of the card. The new version keeps all the functionalities of the existing card – from access to the current account in RON, to contactless payments.

Banca Transilvania started with Visa Classic the transformation of the card portfolio because it is the most common card among its customers, with over 2.9 million cards in circulation. Turning this portfolio into an eco-friendly one means reducing its carbon footprint by 36%. Also to protect the environment and reduce consumption, BT will replace the existing cards with variants made of recycled plastic as they expire, and not before this moment.

The bank has proposed that by 2022 all issued cards will be eco-friendly, so that by 2025 almost the entire portfolio of BT cards will be made of recycled plastic and biodegradable elements. The bank will also continue to encourage the use of digital cards through BT Pay and other alternative payment instruments. Currently, 1 out of 2 BT cards are also in digital format, and the trend is growing.

"We are happy to mark a new premiere on the market. By turning the cards into an environmentally friendly version, we contribute to reducing the negative impact on it. The infrastructure and payment habits do not allow for now to have only digital cards, but we are glad to have at Banca Transilvania the physical support in an eco-friendly form, during the transition period to a 100% digital environment. It is an essential step for us, as the leader of the card market, in supporting the implementation of the circular economy, starting from the largest portfolio of cards, Visa Classic", says Oana Ilas. Executive Director Retail Products Management & Development, Banca Transilvania.

"IDEMIA is proud to bea long-term partner of Banca Transilvania and to support its sustainability objectives with our GREENPAY solutions, offering new products and services more environmentally friendly, in line with the growing demand of consumers for such products. Migration to recycled plastic reduces plastic waste, saves energy, limits oil consumption and reduces greenhouse gas emissions to help mitigate global warming and reduce air pollution, which is one of the most pressing problems of our modern world,"says Tomas Kovarik, vice president CEE & CIS, Financial Institutions, IDEMIA.

IDEMIA's GREENPAY solutions allow the responsible use of resources and aim to reduce the use of PVC plastic in card manufacturing, minimizing environmental impact and pollution.

Through remote banking for individuals and companies, Banca Transilvania offers a series of green paymentsalternatives, through which it contributes to the financial inclusion of Romanians and to the decrease of the carbon footprint. Most are in applications BT Pay, NeoBT and BT Visual Help,namely: access to digital cards before they are received physically (BT Pay); opening an online current account and issuing an online card (NeoBT), with digital signature; obtaining statements of account in electronic format; receiving by SMS the PINs /codes for activating the cards, etc.

BT is the leader of the card market in Romania, with a market share of approximately 23%.