FinTech News
FinTech Future Partners with Volkswagen for Carbon Calculator
In a bit of surprising news, a growing financial technologies startup has announced a partnership with a major auto manufacturer. This week, Future announced a collaboration with Volkswagen.
According to Future, VW will be employing the company’s Electric Vehicle Calculator on its website to help customers measure the carbon impact of driving. Specifically, the tool will allow drivers to see how their carbon emissions will be lowered by switching from a gas-powered vehicle to Volkswagens’s all-electric ID.4 SUV. For context, Future estimates that the average gas vehicle emits about 4.6 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Meanwhile, by driving an EV instead, the positive impact could be on par with planting 500 trees.
Diving deeper into what the calculator will offer, Future states that, rather than providing a generic look at the potential impacts (such as the one above), Future states that the figures will be personalized estimates for each prospective buyer. Shoppers will be able to enter their license plate while Future’s proprietary Carbon API calculates the data and reports it within seconds. Furthermore, the calculator will take into consideration how clean the electricity in a given state is.
Commenting on the promotion, Future co-founder and CEO Jean-Louis Warnholz stated, “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Volkswagen to educate drivers as to how they can reduce their carbon emissions when driving.” Warnholz added, “Consumers are looking for simple and rewarding ways to do right by our planet, and Future is building products that help do just that.”
This interesting partnership caps off what’s been a busy year for Future. In September, the startup closed a $5.3 million seed round led by Accomplice. Those funds helped the company launch its signature debit card that rewards consumers for making more Earth-friendly choices. Prior to this, Future offered a similar but different rewards card via fellow FinTech Imprint. That product was discontinued this fall ahead of the debit card’s launch.
Although this partnership doesn’t necessarily speak to Future’s FinTech services, it does highlight the company’s environmental efforts. Furthermore, with the startup’s model calling for consumers to make more eco-conscious choices, this collaboration seems like a great opportunity. Of course, it’s worth noting that Volkswagen could also use the help of a third-party to promote environmental statistics following the auto company’s 2015 scandal involving reported emissions. That eyebrow-raising realization aside, the deployment of Future’s Carbon API on a site as high profile as VW’s seems like a big win for the young FinTech and will hopefully lead to greater things for the firm.
