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Companies that are obliged to monitor and report the results of carbon emissions and water footprint results arising from their activities, especially due to the Carbon Border Adjustment, can fulfill these needs free of charge through Carbonmap, the first product offered by a bank for that purpose.
Innovation presentation – Describe the project and how it brings innovation to SME banking
Due to the target of compliance with the regulations originating from the EU countries, which are the main export destinations of SME companies, which are the backbone of the Turkish economy, the net zero commitment of the country, the expectations of consumers due to nature-friendly production and the concerns of companies for a green future, it has become a necessity for production processes to become compatible with net carbon targets.
Carbonmap, Şekerbank's first and only unique solution developed by a financial institution for this process, which requires calculation infrastructures and monitoring methodologies that are difficult to follow for companies and workshops, dealers and branches within the organization of companies, helps businesses to overcome all these problems as a web platform for SME size companies those have to measure carbon emissions originating from their production due to consumer expectations, legal regulations or their own motivations; could track the carbon emission results and receive analysis reports based on their consumption. In this way, companies that are obliged to monitor and report the results of carbon emissions and water footprint results arising from their activities, especially due to the Carbon Border Adjustment, can fulfill these needs free of charge through Carbonmap, the first product offered by a bank for that purpose.
In addition, with its Open AI supported artificial intelligence solution, Carbonmap offers a GPT service to all customers who have questions about sustainability, carbon tax, carbon emission, green transformation. This tool works with a special model and calculation algorithm trained by Şekerbank teams for this purpose, and provides users with all the information requested on this subject in just a few seconds.
With the ESG (Environmental Social Governance) survey module, all Şekerbank customers can instantly calculate their ESG scores and view their scores and overall status in environmental, social and governance categories. The scoring infrastructure here is integrated with the loan scoring infrastructure used for SME customers who need financial support for their activities and green transformation.
Uniqueness of the project – Highlight what makes this initiative stand out
Carbonmap is the first carbon emission and water footprint measurement tool developed and offered to customers by a financial institution in Turkey. The platform has transformed the measurement tool experience which involve complex processes and are difficult to follow for businesses. With the help of UI/UX know-how added to development process by Digital Banking and Service Design teams we have created a platform more simple, functional and unique.
From this point of view, Carbonmap is a user experience-maximized platform with enriched graphics that each employee can easily use and examine in detail for a problem that occupies a large place in the business objectives of a companies; they can instantly see time-based emission change, location-based consumption amounts, total carbon and water footprint amounts, and receive reports in PDF or Excel format upon request. Carbonmap, whose counterparts in the market are expensive products that require high subscription fees on an annual basis, is offered free of charge to Şekerbank customer of SME segment; those have sustainability targets.
At the same time, the product helps companies by developing carbon reduction or offsetting suggestions based on the actual emission values of the companies with its artificial intelligence infrastructure, and can produce answers by scanning the entire internet database in seconds on any requested subject about sustainability.
In addition for companies those willing to invest to reduce carbon emissions Carbonmap provides opportunity to apply for relevant Şekerbank products, and with it’s integrated wallet solution helps companies to get carbon credits, invest in carbon reduction or avoidance projects.
through Carbonmap; organizations can see their current situation by answering the basic set of questions on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) processes, which is a critical loan evaluation process for the bank, by so they can focus on their investments to improve their scores and infrastructure by requesting green finance instruments.
For sectors or products subject to foreign trade, they can instantly inquire whether they are subject to a carbon tax in EU countries by entering their sectoral customs codes on the platform. Carbonmap chatbot, an artificial intelligence addition supported by the Open AI infrastructure within the application, is an artificial intelligence tool trained to provide users with detailed information on any topic they are curious about, including basic topics such as sustainability, carbon emissions and carbon tax. Carbonmap is the only platform that offers a GPT infrastructure that serves on the theme of sustainability and has a specially trained model.
As a result; Carbonmap provides every single need of a SME segment customer through one platform, free of charge.
The reason behind – Explain the motivation for launching this project and the problem it addresses
Perhaps the most important measure taken to combat the climate crisis and address the problems caused by greenhouse gas emissions, are the reduction of carbon emissions and the dissemination of net zero carbon targets at the level of both countries and companies that are stakeholders in global trade.
In line with these objectives, it is becoming an obligation to monitor, report and verify the production processes of the products subject to global trade and the carbon emissions resulting from all types of consumption that the enterprises use directly, indirectly or originating from the supply chain.
In line with the MRV (Monitoring-Reporting-Verification) process, these measurements include business processes that must first start with monitoring, then reporting of the values and finally verification of the measured values and related reports by independent companies.
Carbonmap is a product providing the monitoring and reporting tool to Şekerbank customers who need it and it is free of charge unlike similar tools in the market. These monitoring and reporting phases also generate the data and results required for the audit processes that need to be carried out by an independent firm.
In this way, customers can track their carbon emission monitoring obligations, which involve complex processes, in a simple way with improved interfaces.
At the same time, customers are provided with the opportunity to make comparisons on a workshop, factory, dealer basis, and to monitor carbon emissions and consumption levels of basic energy units (electricity, water, natural gas) with time-based graphs. A Carbonmap user company can monitor carbon emissions in different production facilities or. Also with it’s advisory services and chatbot which is supported by Open AI and a one of a kind solution in banking sector, ESG survey function and carbon tax inquiry function; Carbonmap provides additional support to companies in all their basic needs in terms of sustainability targets.
Resources – Outline the key teams, tools, and expertise that contributed
The product, which was completed with the joint efforts of the Digital Banking, Service Design and Agile Software Development teams, in addition to the know-how contribution of the Sustainable Development Banking and Sustainable Finance Banking teams, which are positioned at the level of a Executive Vice President within the Bank's own organization, enables businesses to instantly calculate electricity, water, fuel oil, waste products, coal, emissions from working home office, emissions from transportation according to their consumption amounts; by adding different locations.
While Carbon Map calculates Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, it also calculates the emissions of selected topics within the framework of Scope 3 emissions. The content of these emission calculations is as follows:
- Scope 1 (Direct Emissions): Emissions from sources that the organization directly controls (for example, fuel consumption in facilities or vehicle fleet).
- Scope 2 (Indirect Energy Emissions): Indirect emissions from purchased energy consumption, such as electricity, heat or steam.
- Scope 3 (Other Indirect Emissions): It covers other indirect emissions associated with the organization's operations, such as supply chain, transportation, employee commuting, waste management, etc.
Carbonmap’s calculation methods are based on IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), GHG Protocol (Greenhouse Gas Protocol) and DEFRA (UK Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture) emission factors, is a product developed end-to-end by Şekerbank teams without any external support or contribution and based on the unique knowledge of different teams.
Investments – Provide insights into financial, technological, or strategic investments made
Carbonmap is a product that uses entirely Şekerbank's human resources and technological power during the project development phase. The development of the product and its presentation to customers with the features it has today was realized in a period of approximately 9 months.
In this context, a team of 13 people, including 1 Product Owner, 1 Subject Matter Expert, 2 Designers, 4 backend developers, 2 frontend developers, 1 analyst, 1 project manager, 1 technology team leader, worked for 9 months dedicated to the Carbonmap development process.
Challenges – Share any obstacles faced and how they were overcome
One of the main problem was the possible calculation differences arising from the different standards used in the carbon emission measurement process.
Şekerbank that has a Regulation on Environment and Social Awareness, which is a rare occasion in its sector, is involved in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), one of the leading platforms of the world to fight the climate change. Şekerbank is also one of the signatories of the United Nations Global Compact (Global Principles Convention).
For this reason, the calculation methods used to measure the emissions created by our branches, regional directorates and head office facilities within the bank and correspondingly calculation methods creating the results which are accepted by international authorities, are also used in Carbonmap.
A second challenge was the process of transforming the carbon emission tracking process, which involves complex processes and is difficult for many companies to follow, into a simple, understandable and user-experienced product.
At this stage, insights were obtained through focus group research, global and local examples, online research on customer needs; and as a result Şekerbank Design Team created a product that prioritizes user experience and ease of use.
The first reaction from our customers who tested the product during the user acceptance tests was positive and remarkable comments were about ease of use and practicality.
Results – Detail the impact of the project, including key achievements and measurable outcomes
As we have launched the product 383 SME segmented companies operating in the sectors and possibly subject to Carbon Border Adjustments were targeted in the pilot process. The process of including these companies into the platform is still ongoing. It is also a pilot process to get feedbacks from the companies to develop the platform or add new features as the first version was a MVP version of the product and need to be developed, of course.
The total loan size of these companies those have been targeted is 2.7 Billion Turkish Lirası (65.7 million in Euro equivalent) and 5 % of the total loan size of our bank in the relevant segments. In this sense, it is possible to talk about a product offered to a very critical customer base for our bank.
There are currently 32 active users in the application and the number continues to increase. We plan to increase this number with new customer, whose are not Şekerbank customer already, acquisitions with our communication activities we have planned to release in a very near time.
