To empower people to make more sustainable life choices and create a positive impact for the next generation, Maybank Malaysia launched the myimpact Credit Card.
The card itself is made from bio-sourced polylactic acid and features a groundbreaking initiative deemed ‘first-of-its-kind’ in the country – which is the provision of mechanisms for cardholders to track their carbon footprint, claim rewards for leading a sustainable lifestyle and making eco-friendly purchases, and allow for carbon offset by contributing to various reforestation activities in the region.
The myimpact Credit Card represents Maybank’s holistic approach towards ethical banking, with the goal of promoting positive economic impact, inclusivity and preservation of the environment.
For its efforts towards promoting a sustainable lifestyle and creating an immersive and convenient platform for its customers, Maybank Malaysia was presented with the award for the Best ESG Linked Loyalty Program for Digital CX by The Digital Banker, at its annual Digital CX Awards 2024, held in Singapore.
Encouraging Sustainability Among Customers
As the first payment platform in Malaysia that utilises credit card to increase the public’s awareness of sustainability, the myimpact Credit Card was designed to provide an immersive and convenient platform for its cardmembers to gain a deeper and more insightful understanding of not just their spending patterns, but also the impact on the environment.
Through the automated carbon footprint tracker built into the card, each cardmember is able to retrieve highly personalised estimations of their carbon footprint, truly indicating how each individual transaction contributes to or impacts the environment.
The myimpact Credit Card encourages cardmembers to consciously make a tangible and positive impact through responsible and ESG-friendly spending, in return getting 1% cashback for spending in ESG-friendly merchant categories such as electric vehicle charging or solar panels, public transportation and ride-hailing services, used merchandise stores and repair services, sporting goods and memberships, pharmaceutical stores and education.
Additionally, cardmembers also receive a cashback rate of 0.5% for engaging in contactless transactions.
Maybank Malaysia also aims to facilitate wider economic inclusivity through its offering, by serving both the conventional and Shariah-compliant segments and providing two card types:
- Maybank Islamic myimpact Ikhwan Mastercard Platinum Credit Card-i
- Maybank myimpact Visa Signature Credit Card
Both do not charge the cardmembers compounding interest, late payment charges or annual fees. The myimpact Visa Signature Credit Card is also the first conventional credit card in the country that offers no-compounding interests, providing transparency and simplicity for Maybank customers.
To date, over 14,000 myimpact cardmembers have collectively tracked over 3.55 million kilograms of carbon, and have taken actions to offset their carbon footprint, cumulatively offsetting 30 tons worth of carbon.
Measuring And Offsetting Carbon Impact
The myimpact Credit Card is Malaysia’s introduction to a card with a built-in carbon calculator.
The tracker measures the carbon impact of every transaction automatically based on three scopes across 16 main merchant categories to identify direct and indirect contributors – thereby allowing customers to not only play a more active role in understanding their impact on and contribution to the environment, but to also actively offset their carbon footprint, uniting in the efforts to move towards a more sustainable future.
Maybank’s overall goal is to be a values-driven platform that humanises financial services, with its values being rooted in the principles of ethical banking.
Bearing these principles in mind, Maybank aims to provide financial services that are fair and inclusive, premised on the preservation of environment and exclusion of harmful activities towards mankind. With these principles as a differentiator, Maybank aims to drive economic value for the bank, as evidenced by the development and launch of the myimpact Credit Card.
From L-R: Datuk Hamirullah Boorhan, Head of Community Financial Services (CFS), Malaysia. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, Maybank Chairman. Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli, Maybank Group President & CEO. Dato John Chong, Group CEO, Global Banking and Mr B Ravintharan A/L K Balakrishnan, Head Cards, Group CFS.
