Supporting the sustainable economy, Akbank will use recycled plastic and paper for all credit cards by the end of 2022. Axess is leading this movement under the umbrella of the “Living Well Club”. Customers who apply to Axess digital first or those that are up for renewal, will receive cards made from recycled materials.
Working for the future of Turkey for 73 years, Akbank supports the transition to a sustainable economy with strong steps. In line with its environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, Akbank is switching to the use of recycled plastic, paper and envelopes in all its card types.
Akbank is launching this environmental transformation with Axess, which celebrated its 20th anniversary with the “Living Well Club” platform in recent months. Customers who apply to Axess digital first or those that are up for renewal, will receive cards made from recycled materials.
Emphasizing that Axess continues on the mission of living well with the “Living Well Club”, Akbank Strategy, Digital Banking and Payment Systems EVP Burcu Civelek Yüce said:
“We are very excited to have once again broken new ground in Turkey. Instead of creating a separate environment-friendly that would be limited in numbers, we preferred a radical and holistic movement. With this approach, we will now offer Axess, Wings, Akbank Kart, Free and all of our personal and commercial cards to our customers with recycled card plastic, paper and envelopes.
At Axess, we are redefining the concept of “living well” with the Living Well Club. Living well is not just a dream for the Axess Living Well Club, it’s also a set of things made up of what we do for ourselves, our loved ones and the world today. We are now expanding this set with new capabilities such as integration with Yuvarla, an app that makes donations to non-governmental organizations easy and the expansion of our wellbeing ecosystem. The use of recycled card plastic and envelopes begins with our Axess digital first cards, whose features and card visuals have been renewed recently. Thus, those who apply to Axess digital first today or our customers whose cards are to be renewed, will get environmentally friendly cards by default.
Today, nearly 18 million cards are in use by our customers in our bank. When we put these cards side by side, it equals to approximately 11 football fields. With this movement, we aim to decrease natural resource consumption and to reduce environmental impact by recycling and reusing the materials we can.
The essence of the Axess brand is be an everday Pioneer, to move forward in life, to live better together, to take action today and every day. We offer financial tools and technology that enable these and allow them to find the resources and ways to support and better the environment. Thus, having a good life, living well, ceases to be dreams of the future and becomes concrete actions of today.
With focus on recycling, resource saving, waste control and carbon emission for a sustainable world and a clean environment, Akbank will transform its current customers’ cards into environmentally friendly materials upon renewa. By 2025, all cardstock in our portfolio will be made from recycled materials."