Amsterdam-based digital bank bunq offers an option to plant a tree for every 100€ spent with their SuperGreen premium account. Now bunq planted 1,000,000 trees.
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Ali Niknam, CEO and founder of bunq, was an avid programmer since childhood and studied computer science at the Delft University of Technology. He has launched the web-hosting startup TransIP in 2003 when he was only 21 years old.
With his money from TransIP Niknam decided to launch bunq. Since 2012 processed over €433m in user deposits.
As mentioned, SuperGreen premium users of bunq get a tree planted for every € 100 they spent. This is done through a partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects. These trees capture 308kg CO2 over their 25-year average life span and are located on a dedicated site in Madagascar.
The reason behind planting trees on Madagascar is because it is important to plant trees in an equatorial climate that’s most efficient for taking up CO2 all year round.
Planting 1 million trees means bunq just planted enough trees to offset more than 325K flights from New York to Paris.
The company now operates in 30 countries throughout Europe. With being financed by Niknam’s previous business success from TransIP, this was done without a cent of venture capital funding, something almost none of bunq’s competitors have managed.
“At bunq, we want to make green easy. That’s why we’re the only bank in the world that enables you to become completely CO2 free in less than 2 years,” claims the CEO Ali Niknam
