The arrival of Tred, the unique green debit card and carbon track, reduce and offset app, shows fintechs are continuing to focus increasingly on creating innovative solutions to the unmet needs of the majority of people who want to live greener lives. Tred seeks to broaden its shareholder base while raising up to £1million via an EIS investment round live on Crowdcube.
Like others in fintech, Tred cofounders Will Smith and Peter Kirby know the UK is sitting on the brink of a green revolution. 82% of people in the UK want to live more sustainable lives even if they are not sure how to get started. Even covid has played a part, leaving people with fewer distractions and encouraging us to reflect on our lives, priorities and behaviour. Everyone has had a lesson in personal responsibility and how crucial it is to each play their part in tackling a crisis. And crises don’t come any bigger than the climate emergency.
Co-founder Will Smith said “Tred’s mission is to help everyone live a greener life. Most of us are trying to buy more sustainable products, reusable coffee cups, less red meat etc, but people now want to buy products in a greener way. That’s why we’re launching a green debit card. Simply buy things as you normally would but instead of funding fossil fuels, we’ll plant trees as you spend and tell you the impact of every purchase. We’ll then start to learn from your habits and give you tips on how to improve. Living sustainably can be difficult, we want to make it effortless.”
With more than 97 million debit cards in the UK, making 50 million transactions a day, spending an average of £36 a time, harnessing the humble debit card as a green weapon makes huge sense, and not just because the average transaction emits 8.64kg of CO2.
So the centrepiece of the Tred offer is a genuinely green debit card, offering a uniquely comprehensive package of green features:
- The Tred card is made from recycled plastic waste – and it’s green!
- All spending with the Tred card will contribute to planting trees in Britain to help achieve Net-Zero.
- Each transaction on the card is tracked for its carbon footprint, which is shown, in real-time, on the Tred app, along with personalised tips on alternatives and how to reduce the impact of that spending in future.
- Finally, Tred cardholders can even choose to offset every transaction automatically, the cost of which will fall as they reduce their footprint over time
Cofounder Peter Kirby said, “Tred’s mission is to become THE green fintech, providing a platform that lets people effortlessly manage their money, and its impact, all in one place. We want to bring together currently fragmented ‘green money’ options to make it easier for people to harness the amazing power their money has to help tackle the climate emergency.
“The Tred debit card and app provide the perfect starting point – making it easier than ever before for people to track, reduce and offset their own personal impact on the environment. We will follow this soon, with new features like green investment, on the way to delivering a complete green money solution.
“The need for climate action to be something we all do, and together, made us think Tred’s future should be the same, so we are democratising its ownership through crowdfunding. We hope investors big and small will join the purpose-driven mission we’re on – one that’s crucial to all our futures – by becoming a Tred shareholder at this pivotal early stage via the investment round now open on Crowdcube.”
People who take up the chance to become Tred shareholders via the Crowdcube raise will be investing alongside notable angel investors including Will Todd, co-founder of Nutmeg, and Chris Mairs CBE.
