Wise debit card and corporate green washing
===========================================

~ Originally posted on my Journal [S. 2023-02-02 @13:02 +0100]:
gopher://sdf.org/0/users/r0/journal.txt

Recently Wise (an international payment company) started to offer a
new debit card to its customers. It is called Wise Eco and is supposed
to have green credentials, with the following advantages listed:

* It is "bioplastic"--The bioplastic is made from Polylactic acid or
  polylactide (PLA), which is a polyester derived from biomass
  (typically corn) rather than from the oil industry

* It has "Less ink" because it does not include things like the
  primary account number (PAN) written on the card. The reduced amount
  of ink is because the ink used is not biodegradable

* "Planet-friendly" packaging using "Incada Silk" which is
  FSC-certified

~ Wise page announcing the card:
https://wise.com/gb/blog/wise-launches-ecocards

This all sounds like bullshit green washing to me. Some quick thoughts
off the top of my head

* Wise also have virtual cards, which are just a set of numbers that
  can be used directly online or paired with Google or Apple pay, so
  that you can use your smartphone as a payment device. Since these
  "cards" are entirely virtual, and thus made of nothing and require
  no shipping, surely they are the green option?

* Wise continue to offer their original non-eco card (which
  ironically is green in colour, while the new eco card is white).
  Why? Instead shouldn't this just be the default card for new
  customers and the replacement card for outstanding ones that come up
  for expiry?

* If you are an existing customer and have the green (but not eco
  "green") original card, you are actually offered the new eco one in
  addition when you view your card details online. They are linked to
  the same account balance and you can already have 3 virtual cards at
  no cost. So how does offering another physical card that still draws
  from they same balance help in being ecological? Wise is offering an
  additional physical thing when you already have multiple ways to pay
  from your account.

* This ink saving sounds particularly "bullshitty". How much ink are
  they saving here and surely the environmental saving of slightly
  less ink pails in comparison to producing a card with a
  semiconductor chip and then sending it (in their "eco friendly"
  packaging) to their customers?

I am not totally against this product. Physical cards are still needed
by many consumers and perhaps some of these changes help but seriously
Wise just make this your one physical card offering, and give up on
your non-"green" (but actually green in colour) card.

As a side note, I do sort of like the no PAN printed on the card idea.
Not for the green aspect but from an improved security perspective.
Why are we still printing credit card numbers on all our cards? If you
need the numbers you can get them from your bank's website or app,
store them in your browser and/or your password manager, or even write
them down on a note you keep in a safe place at home. Or if you use
Google or Apple Pay, your mobile device has the number as well.

Having the number written on the card stems from a time where it was
used as a fallback in cases where the card was non working or damaged
but this is exceptionally uncommon (at least in my part of the world)
these days, and in any case the consumer could likely retrieve these
details from their phone using some of the methods I outlined above.
Surely it would be better not to list the number on the card at all
and thus make the visual skimming of these numbers impossible.

In fact as a customer of Wise I am sort of tempted to get one of these
cards. Though if I do it will be for that last aspect and certainly
not because I deluded into thinking that getting yet another card is
greener!

* * *