Innovation

FutureCard is the flagship product of fintech startup Future, which is led by co-founder and CEO Jean-Louis Warnholz.

Mr. Warnholz stated that Future’s cashback system incentivizes users to direct their spending toward sustainable companies and organizations. Users earn the most when they shop at FuturePartners, a network of sustainable brands that have partnered with Future. This includes household products from Grove Collaborative, refurbished technology from Back Market, and discounted surplus groceries from Martie. According to Mr. Warnholz, the system also provides a high earn rate for a wide range of sustainable spending, such as public transit, thrift stores, EV charging, and more. “We are building a market that rewards people for their green choices,” he explained.

In addition to cashback, users can earn FutureCoins by completing sustainability-focused Missions, with one FutureCoin equivalent to a metric ton of saved CO2e. These Missions give users specific tasks to complete, such as switching to electric vehicles or making secondhand purchases. Beyond rewarding users for more sustainable spending, the FutureCard also incentivizes saving. As Mr. Warnholz mentioned, "cardholders earn a significantly higher APY on their balances than many traditional savings accounts."

Inspiration

Jean-Louis Warnholz had two major inspirations that motivated him to start FutureCard. The first was experiencing the effects of climate change like droughts and floods in Kenya when working on his previous venture. The second inspiration came from his daughter, who expressed her own concerns about having a future.

According to Warnholz, “I really enjoy learning about people and their lives and their choices and the decisions that they make day in and day out…That ultimately drives innovation.” He realized that while people want a more sustainable future, they may feel powerless, that it is too expensive to make environmentally friendly decisions, and that a greener tomorrow is not within reach. He notes that many individuals already make some sustainable decisions without noticing, like taking the bus or train, and that in many ways one can actually save money with sustainable living, like going solar or purchasing secondhand goods. A major driving force of FutureCard is to change the narrative around sustainability and show users that not only is it possible for them to live sustainably, but their individual actions, when done collectively and scaled up, can make a difference.

Overall impact

While individuals making sustainable decisions on their own may not seem like an effective way to achieve sustainability, Warnholz points out that as FutureCard scales up and more users switch to more sustainable spend, the collective impact can be extremely profound. He notes that FutureCard has powered one million green choices.

The FutureCard program greatly benefits two Sustainable Development Goals. By encouraging and rewarding users to direct their spend towards more sustainable initiatives, it helps to achieve goal twelve, supporting the viability of sustainable consumption and production patterns. This also benefits the thirteenth goal, as it empowers users to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Business benefit

FutureCard has a unique market advantage of being a debit card with real rewards rather than a credit card, meaning that there is far less competition and far more accessibility.

FutureCard incentivizing sustainable spend is not only a financial win for users who can earn as much as 6% cash back, but is a win for sustainable brands and services as they may see increased revenue from FutureCard users. It is also a win for Future, as like other debit or credit cards they collect merchant fees when FutureCard is being used in a transaction. Warnholz notes that a distinction between FutureCard and other cards is that Future makes money when people make “better-for-you” choices, whereas other cards often reward users and make money themselves on the back of unsustainable spend. This all ties into Warnholz’s goal of FutureCard bolstering a “transition towards a green economy.”

Social and environmental benefit

The FutureCard program encourages users to once again think about how their personal choices have an impact on the environment, allowing them to collectively make a truly positive impact on the environment with their spend. Future’s direct engagement with users comes in stark contrast to carbon offsets. Unlike offsets where one pays someone else to offset their carbon emissions, users of FutureCard have the opportunity to prevent further emissions from happening in the first place, and get rewarded themselves for avoiding emissions rather than paying others to offset them.

Warnholz states that, “part of what our members find exciting is what you do in your own life absolutely matters,” and that with FutureCard, he aims to make green choices accessible and ubiquitous.

Interview

Jean-Louis Warnholz, Co-Founder and CEO