FinTech News

Save Announces ESG-Focused Portfolio

With many consumers growing more environmentally conscious, a number of companies have made efforts to change the way they do business in a bid to become more eco-friendly. Furthermore, in the world of FinTech, several startups have also supported environmental efforts by promoting certain habitual changes and helping consumers divest from companies that don’t support their values. Now, another company is joining this trend with its latest offering.

This week, Save announced the launch of its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) portfolio that includes the iShares ESG Aware ETF among others. According to the company, the option marks the first ESG-oriented savings product in banking. Moreover, since the option debuted, a reported 10% of customers that have opened a Market Savings account have selected the ESG portfolio.

In addition to offering the ESG account, Save is also launching a tree-planting effort. For every $5,000 deposited in ESG Market Savings, the company will underwrite the planting of one tree. However, this is capped at $250 million in deposits, which would amount to 50,000 trees being planted in upstate New York.

Announcing the offering, Save founder and CEO Michael Nelskyla said, “Consumers are increasingly turning to ethical choices in all aspects of life including investments,” adding, “We see it as our fiduciary responsibility to offer ethical investing through our Market Savings program for those consumers who seek these choices.” To Nelskyla’s point, Morningstar reports that assets in global sustainable funds topped $2.24 trillion in September.

Save’s latest efforts put them among a growing list of FinTechs that have chosen to focus their efforts on helping the environment. One of the most well-known examples of this is Aspiration, which offers banking accounts, a credit card, and other products that support tree-planting initiatives. Meanwhile, the startup Future recently launched a debit card that rewards customers for making more Earth-friendly choices. While that product is fairly young, Future has already found success, closing a $5.3 million seed round led by Accomplice in September.

With the launch of the ESG Market Savings, Save closes out what’s seemingly been a fairly strong year for the service. In January, the company announced its unique Wealth card. Additionally, the Market Savings account itself debuted in May via a partnership with Webster Bank. Given the growth of ESG funds and the desire for many consumers to “clean up” their investments, this new offering seems poised to gain popularity as we head into 2023, potentially setting up Save for another great year as well.