Deutsche Bank is pioneering an innovative app designed to monitor clients’ carbon footprints while simultaneously promoting cost-saving behaviors. This initiative, known as GreenR, was conceptualized by mathematician Lorena Saenz de Alba through the bank’s Intrapreneur Initiative.
After presenting her idea, Saenz de Alba was joined by a team of five members and a coach, all focused on the app’s development. Utilizing Agile methodology, the team engaged with over 100 individuals from both inside and outside the bank to assess interest in the app. They conducted an initial sprint, a focused period aimed at achieving specific goals, which allowed them to establish a roadmap for the app’s functionality.
The subsequent phase involved a four-week endeavor to outline legal, compliance, and technological requirements, identify target clients, and formulate a marketing strategy. During the second sprint, the team collaborated with technology experts and project managers to refine their concept, ultimately creating a tangible prototype that was pitched to the Venture Board, including senior executives and an external investor.
With the board’s support, efforts continued on the prototype, which connects directly to clients’ accounts and analyzes six months’ worth of banking transactions to estimate CO2 emissions. Once patterns are identified, GreenR challenges users to lower their carbon footprints through actions such as supporting local businesses, reducing meat consumption, and cycling more frequently. Additionally, it offers carbon offsetting options for frequent travelers.
Saenz de Alba emphasizes a fundamental shift in approach: “Instead of donating to environmental projects with no financial return, our model encourages investments in initiatives that also yield economic benefits, particularly from savings achieved through environmentally conscious behavior.”
Although the pandemic initially disrupted development, the team adapted to remote work to enhance the app further. Saenz de Alba anticipates that GreenR will thrive in a post-pandemic, environmentally aware, and digitally-oriented marketplace.
“GreenR is not solely about promoting investment in sustainable products; it represents an opportunity to engage with a generation keen on digital solutions,” she notes. “By offering services like GreenR, Deutsche Bank aims to establish a more profound connection with clients and attract those who may currently be underserved, thereby cementing our relevance among this critical demographic.”