Singapore’s Trust Bank commits to eco-friendly manufacture of payment cards

The bank wants to build trust in its commitment to recycle plastic waste in the oceans while supporting eco-sustainability practices.

In Singapore, the first digitally-native bank went into operation on 1 Sep 2022, and subsequently attracted over 600,000 customers. 

Trust Bank (or simply, “Trust”) is a partnership between Standard Chartered bank and the country’s homegrown supermarket chain, FairPrice Group.  

One of the digital bank’s key values is “Build to Sustain”: building trust for the long term — for its, its business and the environment. In Dec 2023, the bank even organized a hackathon where 70 staff competed to use technologies such as generative AI, automation application programming interfaces and chatbots to pitch better ways of doing their work.

In that same month, the bank launched an eco-friendly payment card in Singapore to raise awareness about environmental consciousness. The card is manufactured using plastics recycled from coastal areas of oceans around the world, and involves issuing banks’ commitment to choose the right technology, processes, and products to substantially reduce adverse environmental impacts such as energy consumption, carbon footprint, and plastic waste.

With a stated goal of minimizing its impact on the environment, the card is touted as one of the most eco-friendly in the local market, and compliant with the country’s Green Plan 2030.

Said the bank’s Head of Credit Card & Lending, Hasan Khan: “As a digital bank with a core value of ‘Build to Sustain’, we hope to continue pioneering more sustainable solutions that reduce our environmental footprint.”

The card is also fully-certified by payment schemes complying with green manufacturing processes including the ISO 14001 and 50001 certification standards.

According to Nassir Ghrous, Vice President, Banking and Payment Services (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa), Thales Group, the card manufacturer in Singapore: “The cards offer a seamless payment experience to consumers, while helping Trust contribute towards cleaner oceans. We look forward to further collaboration with them in the coming years.”