HSBC in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man has introduced a new green loan initiative to enable personal customers in the islands to ‘go green’ and contribute to the planting of trees and hedgerows across the islands.
Customers can now opt to take out a new ‘HSBC Green Loan’ to support an environmental cause – such as buying an ebike, upgrading to solar heating or buying an electric car. When they do, the Bank will also make a donation to a local environmental charity equivalent to planting five trees or ten miles of hedgerow for every loan taken out.
The new loan forms part of HSBC’s green finance proposition in the islands, after the Bank rolled out green loan products for commercial customers last year.
In addition, up until the end of June, HSBC is donating £10 to local conservation charities when customers support a range of digitally focused services, such as opening a savings account online, completing registration for online banking, downloading and activating the mobile banking app, switching to a digital secure key for online banking, and successfully applying for a credit card online. The charities benefitting are the National Trust for Jersey, the National Trust of Guernsey, the Alderney Wildlife Trust and the Manx Wildlife Trust.
Furthermore, the Bank also plans to move to using 85% recycled plastics for its credit cards and extending the life of cards from three to five years. This, coupled with the current drive to replace plastic physical secure keys for online banking with digital secure keys, supports ambitions to cut down on plastic use.
To reduce paper waste, the Bank is making it easier for customers to access statements and other documents online and enabling those applying for a mortgage to sign documents digitally and upload them electronically.
Cameron Senior, Interim Head of Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC Channel Islands and Isle of Man, said: “Our aim is to help build a net zero global economy and to be a net-zero Bank by 2030 or sooner, and we absolutely recognise that we have a responsibility to our customers and the communities in which we operate to support sustainable banking and living. We are committed to helping our customers across Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man on their own journey to address climate change and be more sustainable by giving them the chance to take small steps as part of their everyday banking needs. Our new Green Loan is an example of that.”
