New white paper says ESG data is inconsistent and vulnerable to greenwashing, and proposes network-level enrichment, open banking feeds and partner labels to drive credible insights for banks and merchants.
Visa has published a white paper, Unleashing the potential of sustainability data, arguing that much of today’s ESG information is “inconsistent, inaccurate, and incoherent,” creating space for greenwashing and making it hard for banks, businesses and consumers to act with confidence.
The paper pins the problem on structural data issues, including low resolution at product or behaviour level, difficulty scaling across markets, verification gaps and limited accessibility.
Visa highlights three related hurdles: finding suppliers with credible sustainability credentials, securing the skills and tools needed to analyse ESG data, and presenting insights in a format non-experts can use. The paper notes that scope 3 emissions are usually the largest share and the hardest to track, while most consumers lack the time or expertise to interrogate raw ESG reports.
What a payments network can add
Visa positions payment players as data integrators with line-of-sight to global commerce.
It describes ongoing enrichment of core transaction details with partner inputs such as merchant logos, website addresses, maps and contact data, as well as carbon insights via ecolytiq. It also sets out how card data can be blended with open banking feeds through partners like Tink and ecolytiq to include wallets, direct debits, standing orders and recurring transactions, enabling richer behavioural analysis and more consistent sustainability views across products.
Beyond showing consumers their footprint, Visa sketches use cases that include supplier screening, portfolio decarbonisation and elements of credit and risk decisioning. As the data stack matures, Visa expects more segmentation, behavioural analysis and predictive modelling to inform product design and engagement. The paper also looks ahead to “intelligent agents” that could act on verified sustainability data in real time, and to expanding coverage beyond carbon into water, waste and biodiversity as data quality improves.
Case studies and partner ecosystem
In Malaysia, Maybank’s myimpact Visa Signature card combines a carbon footprint tracker with reforestation offsets and rewards at selected ESG-friendly merchants. In Singapore, OCBC’s business card offers a 3% rebate at eco-friendly merchants and access to Visa’s Sustainability Spend Index, a carbon-tracking tool assured by EY.
To deepen coverage and verification at the merchant level, Visa points to partners. Ample Earth classifies sellers with eco- and social labels such as “Living Wage Employer”, “Zero-Waste” and “B Corp”, turning unstructured public sources into evidence-based tags that can surface in banking experiences and loyalty.
Plan A is integrated into Visa Ready for Fleet to help businesses measure, report and reduce transport emissions as part of fleet spend management.
Regulatory and commercial pull
Visa frames the work against regulatory expectations, citing the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and guidance from the European Banking Authority as drivers for higher quality, decision-grade ESG inputs in risk management, product design and procurement. The paper also underlines the commercial opportunity as customers seek credible sustainability signals when choosing brands and financing upgrades such as EVs or energy efficiency.
The paper signals that banks and programmes will need data-sharing arrangements with partners, the capability to reconcile card and open banking datasets, and governance to substantiate any sustainability claims made in products or marketing. Visa says support is available through its Climate Tech Services and Visa Consulting & Analytics for discovery, roadmap design, proposition build and launch.
