Worried Your Spending Is Hurting Earth? Get an Offset Visa Card

(Bloomberg) -- Keep spending, save the environment.

That’s the pitch from Mogo Inc., a Canadian fintech company that’s offering a prepaid Visa card that includes a program to cut carbon emissions. Mogo will offset one pound of CO2 for every dollar spent using the card -- a first for the country, according to the company. Linking a spending account to the prepaid Visa can help Canadians control their spending too, Vancouver-based Mogo said.

“Financial health and the health of the planet are closely linked,” Chief Executive Officer David Feller said in a statement Friday. “Overspending is not only one of the biggest reasons why Canadians are struggling financially, but overconsumption is also directly linked to climate change.”

Some 72% of carbon emissions can be linked to individuals’ consumption, according to the company.

To contact the reporter on this story: Doug Alexander in Toronto at dalexander3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, ;David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net, Jacqueline Thorpe, Daniel Taub

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