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Personalized ESG: a new differentiator for next-gen card issuers

Written by Admin | November 27, 2025

Card products are becoming a medium to reflect the customer’s ESG values — from carbon-footprint tracking to scientific contributions and delivering targeted financial aid.

But overwhelming cardholders with ESG offers doesn’t work. With too many choices, 39% of customers abandon the journey — and choose a competitor instead.

So how can issuers deliver personalized, meaningful ESG experiences?

With OpenWay’s Way4 payment processing platform, here’s what becomes possible:

  1. Segment customers by ESG motivation using Way4 analytics and basket-level insights. Identify who is most likely to support education, wildlife conservation, clean water initiatives, and more.

  2. Integrate ESG partners efficiently using Way4’s rich API stack, connecting customers via digital channels with sustainability and impact-as-a-service organizations that match their interests.

  3. Trigger hyper-personalized, real-time, context-aware ESG offers using geolocation. For example, if transaction history shows the customer is traveling in a drought-affected region, Way4 can push a mobile-app offer inviting them to support clean-water initiatives.

  4. Let customers configure their own card usage scenarios in Way4. How do they want their ESG contributions to work? This can be rounding everyday payments, converting loyalty points, donating cashback, automating monthly contributions, or allocating deposit interest.

  5. Deliver transparent impact reporting from ESG partners, enhanced with Way4-powered personalized loyalty offers. When customers see impact updates like “You’ve planted 2 trees!”, Way4 can immediately trigger issuer-defined rewards, deepening emotional engagement with your card brand.

Ready to explore how Way4 can power your sustainability transformation? Let’s talk.