• Romania’s first environmentally friendly card is the Visa Classic debit card, issued by BT and produced by IDEMIA.
• Converting the Visa Classic portfolio to an eco‑friendly one means a 36% reduction in carbon footprint.
• BT has set the goal that by 2022 all newly issued cards will be eco‑friendly.
• By 2025, almost the entire BT card portfolio will be made from recycled plastic and biodegradable components.

Banca Transilvania now has environmentally friendly cards in its portfolio, made from recycled plastic and biodegradable components. Romania’s first eco‑friendly card is the BT Visa Classic debit card, developed in partnership with IDEMIA, a global leader in augmented identity and innovative payment technologies. In the first stage, new cards will be issued in this version, followed later by reissued cards upon expiry. The new version keeps all the functionality of the existing card — from access to the RON current account to contactless payments.

Banca Transilvania started with Visa Classic because it is the most common card among its customers, with more than 2.9 million cards in circulation. Converting this portfolio to an eco‑friendly one means a 36% reduction in carbon footprint. To protect the environment and reduce consumption, BT will replace existing cards with recycled‑plastic versions as they expire — not before.

The bank has set the goal that by 2022 all newly issued cards will be eco‑friendly, so that by 2025 almost the entire BT card portfolio will be made from recycled plastic and biodegradable components. The bank will also continue to encourage the use of digital cards via BT Pay and other alternative payment tools. Currently, 1 in 2 BT cards is also available in digital format, and this share is increasing.

"We are pleased to mark a new first in the market. By moving our cards to an environmentally friendly version, we are helping to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Infrastructure and payment habits do not yet allow us to have only digital cards, but we are pleased to offer at Banca Transilvania a physical card in an eco‑friendly form during the transition to a 100% digital environment. This is an essential step for us, as the market leader in cards, in supporting the implementation of the circular economy, starting with our largest card portfolio, Visa Classic.", said Oana Ilas, Executive Director, Retail Products Management & Development, Banca Transilvania.

"IDEMIA is proud to be a long‑term partner of Banca Transilvania and to support its sustainability objectives with our GREENPAY solutions, offering new, more environmentally friendly products and services, in line with growing consumer demand for such products. Migrating to recycled plastic reduces plastic waste, saves energy, limits oil consumption and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, helping to mitigate global warming and reduce air pollution, which is one of the most pressing issues of our modern world", said Tomas Kovarik, Vice President CEE & CIS, Financial Institutions, IDEMIA.

IDEMIA’s GREENPAY solutions enable the responsible use of resources and aim to reduce the use of PVC plastic in card manufacturing, minimizing environmental impact and pollution.

Through remote banking for individuals and companies, Banca Transilvania offers a number of green payments alternatives that contribute to the financial inclusion of Romanians and to a lower carbon footprint. Most of them are in the BT Pay, NeoBT and BT Visual Help apps, namely: access to digital cards before the physical ones are received (BT Pay); online current account opening and online card issuance (NeoBT), with a digital signature; obtaining account statements in electronic format; receiving PINs/card activation codes via SMS, etc.

BT is the leader of Romania’s card market, with a market share of approximately 23%.