AirPlus International has launched globally a central-bill
option that provides corporations with green reporting and no-cost carbon
offset and donation programs through Swiss nonprofit group Myclimate. The new
Green Company Account is "the first climate-neutral product in the
financial services industry," according to AirPlus. In addition, AirPlus
said it would offset its own carbon emissions generated by processing each
centrally billed transaction to make the product climate-neutral.
The latest evolution of AirPlus' green initiatives began
last year, said AirPlus central payment solutions product manager and Green
Company Account developer Annette Kussmaul, as the card provider's research and
development team brainstormed the carbon-neutral product concept and a dedicated
offset plan to meet increasing customer demands for green products.
AirPlus began offering green reporting in 2007 and since has
enhanced it to calculate emissions not only for air travel, but also for rail
travel, hotel stays and car rentals and by ticket, route, department, cost
center and project. It also partnered with German nonprofit Atmosfair to
calculate emissions according to one standard, then began to automatically
deliver to clients carbon-output calculations as measured by four different industry
standards, which met 99 percent of client needs, Kussmaul said. All AirPlus
standard corporate accounts may request the reports and opt to offset emissions
with one of four partners. However, AirPlus has charged an annual fee of €500
for offsetting.
The new Green Company Account, however, incurs no such fees
for carbon offsets or donations, Kussmaul said. One-time donations can be
quickly applied; a company might make a donation to partially offset emissions
from a large meeting or event, for example. But the product team also wanted a
carbon-neutral card and dedicated "reforestation project, and Atmosfair
doesn't offer one. That's why we decided to set up this project with
Myclimate," Kussmaul said.
Piloted In Italy
AirPlus in September debuted the Green Company Account in
Italy, followed by the Nordic and French markets, then the global rollout,
Kussmaul said.
"In Italy we had so many customers asking for the Green
Company Account that all clients there decided to switch to it as of
January," she noted.
One early adopter is Gruppo Rina, a marine certification and
services firm with offices in 49 countries that validates and verifies climate
defense mechanism projects around the world. "AirPlus is not just a
supplier for business travel solutions, but a partner for our green
policies," according to Simonetta Costa of the Gruppo Rina purchasing
department. Gruppo Rina used AirPlus' green reports and applied for the Green
Company Account, which "certifies that we are using an emissions-free
financial tool," Costa said.
"Everyone asks 'Why Italy?' instead of Switzerland or
the Nordics, both well-known green" proponents, Kussmaul said. "It
was because we had increasing demand from Italy for green products, and our
Italian market is always very active and progressive in selling new products
and trends. They said, 'We want to be the pilot market and see how it works.'
"
Based on rapid initial conversions, AirPlus expects in 2013
that "50 percent of all our customers will use the Green Company
Account," Kussmaul said. Even so, she noted that AirPlus would continue to
offer all standard products.
Greening Internal Processes
Kussmaul said she analyzed the carbon emissions AirPlus
generated to process a transaction, factoring power, air conditioning, paper,
business travel and other necessities. After months of study and data
collection, she found that each transaction generated "0.07
kilograms" of carbon dioxide. The company reduced its output where
possible. For the rest, AirPlus said it would offset "with a six-figure
amount per year to a [Myclimate reforestation] climate protection project in
Nicaragua."
AirPlus product teams also are considering the need for a
green corporate card for individual cardholders. "That is the next step
we're thinking about, but there is no timeline for that," according to a
spokeswoman.