UK fintech Science Card has launched an e-money account aimed at supporting scientific projects across health, climate change, and technology through customer spending.
With its free account, Science Card allows customers to select UK university projects they wish to support, automatically contributing to these initiatives each time they use their Mastercard Science Card. When customers make card payments, Science Card rounds up the total amount and allocates the difference to fund research in their chosen themes or projects. Customers can choose to multiply their round-ups from 1x to 10x and can vary the projects to which they donate.
Dedicated to social responsibility, Science Card also donates 10% of its profits directly to the selected research projects.
Current initiatives eligible for support include studies on kidney transplants, dementia, and cervical cancer, being conducted at institutions like King’s College London, University College London, Newcastle University, and Kingston University.
After successfully closing its pre-seed round in February 2023, Science Card became available to customers in the UK in Spring 2024. The account is provided, and the card is issued by Transact Payments Limited, a licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. Users can manage their finances through the app, utilizing spending pots and facilitating money transfers.
Founder of Science Card, Daniel Baeriswyl, PhD, stated: “The UK is a world leader in research and development, with significant potential to enhance health, technology, and tackle climate change. However, many researchers find themselves spending too much time securing increasingly scarce funding, diverting their focus from crucial research and posing a risk that vital projects may not be realized.
“At Science Card, our goal is to eliminate this barrier. We aim to bridge the divide between science and financial services, empowering individuals to foster our sustainable future and drive transformative advancements in science and technology simply by engaging in their everyday spending.”
Learn more about the latest innovations in the sustainable finance sector at Finextra’s annual Sustainable Finance Live conference, taking place on 8 October 2024.