ekko launches biodiversity tracking solution Nature Footprint

By Aarav Garg

London-based FinTech ekko has launched Nature Footprint, a payments-linked biodiversity tracking solution designed to help banks, payment providers and merchants embed environmental impact data directly into consumer transactions.

The platform introduces a real-time biodiversity metric within the payment journey, allowing consumers to see how everyday spending may affect areas such as habitat loss, land use, pollution and water stress.

Nature Footprint expands ekko’s existing carbon tracking capabilities by adding biodiversity-focused insights at the point of payment. The company said the solution uses transaction values, merchant category codes, purchase locations and lifecycle assessment data to generate spend-based environmental indicators in real time.

“Small steps can create monumental change. We know that 80% of consumers want to live more sustainably, but until now they haven’t had a tangible picture of the environmental impact of their everyday purchases. This is where the Nature Footprint will turn the tide,” said Oli Cook, CEO and Co-Founder of ekko. “With 1 trillion purchases happening every year, every 1% of those contributing to meaningful environmental projects can unlock extraordinary impact. By partnering with payment providers, banks, and merchants to embed nature education and action into day-to-day spending, we can turn everyday activities into powerful forces for change. For our commercial partners, this creates an opportunity to deepen customer engagement and retention, stand out in a crowded market, and strengthen their relevance with increasingly values-driven customers.”

The underlying methodology was developed alongside sustainability consultancy Nature Positive and incorporates datasets including EXIOBASE, GLOBIO, AWARE water stress indicators and biodiversity impact models from CDC Biodiversité’s Global Biodiversity Score framework.

ekko said it aims to help direct $1 billion toward environmental and sustainability projects globally by 2030 through its payments ecosystem partnerships.