Doconomy and Swedbank Research How Impact Data Can Guide Sustainable Spending
Doconomy and Swedbank have entered into a research collaboration focused on how sustainability data linked to financial transactions could help consumers make better-informed purchasing decisions.
Announced on September 28, 2026, the initiative will examine how transaction-based impact information, including estimates of the climate footprint associated with consumer spending, can be combined with emerging technologies to make environmental and social impacts more accessible to individuals.
The project forms part of a broader international research initiative involving financial institutions, researchers, and other organizations. Rather than introducing a new consumer banking product immediately, the work is intended to investigate how impact data can be communicated and used effectively within financial services.
The research is organized around three main areas: impact data and transparency, the future of digital commerce, and consumer understanding and engagement.
Turning Transaction Data Into Environmental Information
The first area will examine how spending data can be translated into estimates of environmental and social impact.
Financial transactions provide banks with information about where and how customers spend money. When this information is combined with environmental datasets and merchant classifications, it can be used to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with categories such as food, transportation, retail, and travel.
Doconomy already operates technology designed for this purpose. Its Impact Transactions product uses the Åland Index methodology to convert purchases into estimated carbon footprints. According to the company, the technology is currently distributed through more than 90 financial institutions in over 40 countries.
The underlying methodology uses financial and environmental information supplied by S&P Global, supplemented by public datasets and modelling where company-level information is unavailable. Doconomy says the dataset covers approximately 95% of global market capitalization and incorporates Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. The Åland Index methodology has also been reviewed by EY.
Such calculations remain estimates rather than direct measurements of the emissions created by an individual purchase. A transaction may reveal a merchant category and expenditure amount without identifying every product purchased, its supply chain, manufacturing process, or exact lifecycle footprint.
This distinction is significant as banks and fintech providers increasingly introduce sustainability information into digital financial services. The usefulness of transaction-level impact data depends not only on the volume of data available, but also on how calculations are constructed, communicated, and understood by consumers.
Exploring AI and the Future of Digital Commerce
A second area of the Doconomy and Swedbank research will consider how financial services could support consumers as commerce becomes increasingly digital, including through artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
AI-powered financial tools could potentially combine information about prices, spending habits, and environmental impacts when consumers compare products or manage household budgets. This raises questions about data quality, transparency, and how sustainability metrics should be incorporated into automated recommendations.
The subject was also discussed during Doconomy's Stage of Impact sessions held during Climate Week NYC in September. The program included representatives from Swedbank, Mastercard, S&P Global, Consumers International and the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, with discussions covering impact metrics, consumer trust, AI-driven commerce and the integration of impact information into banking and payments.
Consumer Understanding Remains a Central Challenge
The third research area focuses on how sustainability information can be presented in a way that consumers can understand and use.
Providing a carbon figure alongside a transaction does not necessarily mean that a consumer will change their behavior. Financial institutions therefore need to consider issues including usability, comparability, financial affordability and the level of confidence consumers place in environmental estimates.
This is particularly relevant because household consumption represents a substantial share of consumption-based emissions.
Doconomy's Sustainable Consumption Index, which combines Mastercard transaction insights with the Åland Index, estimates that the average individual carbon footprint in Sweden was around eight tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year in 2023, with approximately five tonnes associated with private consumption. The index uses aggregated and anonymized transaction information rather than individual customer records.
For banks, better impact information could eventually allow sustainability indicators to sit alongside more traditional financial information such as expenditure categories, savings targets and budgets.
However, the quality and limitations of the underlying calculations will remain important. Differences between estimated category-level emissions and the specific footprint of individual products could affect how consumers interpret the data.
Research Rather than Immediate Product Rollout
Doconomy and Swedbank have emphasized that the current initiative is exploratory and is focused on research rather than the immediate implementation of a new product or industry standard.
Swedbank is contributing banking and market expertise, while the wider initiative includes perspectives from research institutions and other financial-sector participants.
Initial findings were discussed around the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week NYC in September 2026. A more comprehensive white paper is expected to be published ahead of COP31.
A similar collaboration announced by Doconomy with the Bank of Åland on September 30 is examining how AI and sustainability data could support consumption decisions, suggesting that the Swedbank project forms part of a broader effort to understand the future role of impact information in banking and digital commerce.
For the financial sector, the initiative highlights a wider shift from simply offering customers carbon calculators toward examining how environmental information can be embedded into everyday financial decision-making.
The practical challenge will be ensuring that impact estimates are sufficiently transparent, reliable, and understandable while avoiding the impression that a calculated transaction footprint represents an exact measurement.
If those challenges can be addressed, transaction-based sustainability information could become an increasingly common feature of digital banking, giving consumers another source of information alongside price and traditional financial metrics when assessing their spending.
Sources:
Cut through the green tape
We don't push agendas. At Net Zero Compare, we cut through the hype and fear to deliver the straightforward facts you need for making informed decisions on green products and services. Whether motivated by compliance, customer demands, or a real passion for the environment, you’re welcome here. We provide reliable information. Why you seek it is not our concern.