05 Apr 2024
Over 281 million people have been working in countries other than their own to earn a living and support their families back home by sending money online or offline. Thanks to dazzling technology, they transfer their money through several online money transfer service providers whose services they can trust.
Where technology has created ease and comfort for humankind, it has several downsides. One of its demerits is the effect on the climate of the world.
Climate change is one of the planet's gravest threats, with the risk of annihilating life. Unfortunately, a majority of the people have scant regard for the rapidly deteriorating climate of the earth.
But have you ever wondered if your online money transfers have anything to do with the environment and climate change?
Well, chances are… You haven’t!
But, to know, continue reading.
As stated above, humankind faces the grave threat of climate change or global warming. Climate change refers to the rise in the average base temperature of the earth, which the experts and current estimations suggest will rise by 1.5 degrees by the end of the 21st century. The phenomenon is also known as global warming.
Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) in the earth's atmosphere are considered to be the prime reason for this.
Many countries and governments worldwide are taking several measures to curb such emissions and trying to reduce the existing temperatures to save humanity from devastation.
Another challenge to the looming danger of climate change is that people from developing countries travel to developed countries to earn a living and support their families. With every online money transfer they make, they have to face the grave consequences of climate change despite making little contribution to it in terms of emissions.
Financial matters still are considered the domain of banks. When it comes to transferring funds online across borders, millions of people still use the services of the banks because:
Therefore, they tend to approach banks for online financial transactions but, in the process, ignore how they impact the environment and other risks banks still have in their services. Take a look below.
The institutions use electric appliances like air conditioners, computers, and photocopiers to keep the operations running smoothly and ensure banks have little dependence on outside sources. All of these appliances contribute significantly to climate change.
One of the gravest challenges financial institutions like banks face in developing countries is that perpetual power outages and other interruptions make it extremely challenging to continue delivering services. Furthermore, greener options like solar energy are so expensive that it goes beyond the financial strength of the concerned institution to afford those. You wonder why?
Well, simply because if they make such hefty investments, how would they recover the expenses? Either by charging extra or not offering specific services to reduce the financial burden. Both options are not feasible because both are a sure recipe for drawing their customers apart, which they simply need help to afford.
Therefore, they rely heavily on the above electric appliances, each significant contributor to climate change.
While using an ATM, have you ever noticed that towards the end of every transaction, the machine asks if you need a receipt of your transaction or go green? Why? Because the use of paper is a significant contributor to global warming. Banks, however, use documents in bulk.
Papers are made from wood. The rising demand for papers triggers deforestation, which is, again, a significant factor in climate change. Cognisant of this, Bill Gates announced some years ago that he is working towards making the world paper-free.
Wait. Don’t worry. This implies that paper use will diminish over time, and a shift will be undertaken towards digitization. It is one of the reasons that in developed countries, paper use is decreasing fast.
Since the use of machines in banks is heavy and requires high electricity power, banks use generators that run on diesel during spells of outage. Power outages are rampant in developing countries. This, again, is a significant contributor to global warming.
When a generator is used to power heavy equipment, it will run on fossil fuels and omit smoke, which is one of the primary causes of global warming. The kind of machine maintenance practiced in developing countries leaves a lot to be desired in this context.
Imagine you have to travel to a bank that is lying away from your place of residence, requiring you to go there in a car. What will happen? Well, you will use your car and, in doing so, burn fossil fuel and affect the environment.
Using electric cars in most developing countries is still a distant dream. Electric vehicles are environmentally friendly as they do not emit smoke. Therefore, without these cars, your vehicles significantly contribute to climate change as they burn and run on fossil fuels.
The digital way is the greener alternative to banks for sending funds across borders. Several digital remittance transfer service providers like ACE Money Transfer are a befitting answer to this question. Because they do not use paper, do not require you to commute long distances, or burn fossil fuel. It is one of the reasons that the developed world is shifting to digital means fast.
Look at the reasons below.
You will not need to commute if you transfer funds back home through ACE Money Transfer. You will not even need to move an inch, let alone commute. The firm’s virtual presence around the clock makes it accessible anytime, anywhere.
You do not have to move an inch or step out of your comfort zone to access the firm's services and do what is needed. It thus diminishes the need to use paper, which triggers deforestation or the burning of fossil fuels.
Another green aspect of using ACE Money Transfer is that all you need to make a transaction is your smartphone only and access to a secure internet connection. If you cannot find an outside internet connection, your telecom service provider provides you with one.
Indeed, smartphones also emit rays and contribute to climate change within their limited capacity. However, can you compare the damage these small machines do with high-power diesel generators and vehicles of different types?
The damage is far less than that of the machines listed above.
No papers are required to transfer funds from one place to another with ACE Money Transfer. All the process takes is just a few clicks to initiate and complete with virtual notifications about different phases.
Unlike banks and other financial institutions that will give you paper receipts about the different phases of the process, ACE MOney Transfer will simply send you virtual notifications about the various stages of a transaction, similar to dozens of notifications you normally receive on your mobile phone.
Considering the environment of planet Earth, it must be one of your core responsibilities, particularly in your money transfers, to leave behind a better place to live than you found.
In this context, your transactions with ACE Money Transfer are environmentally friendly and financially beneficial, with low fees, speed, safety, and competitive currency exchange rates.
Climate change refers to the change in the earth's atmosphere, the temperature of which is rising rapidly. Climate change is also known as global warming, in which greenhouse gases concentrate in the earth’s atmosphere in large quantities and affect its temperature and weather.
Several factors trigger climate change and cause a change in the earth's environment. All are man-made causes. Some of the leading causes, however, include the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and agriculture and farming, which are done in old and conventional ways.
The greener alternatives in online money transfers are a reference to ways in which the environment is not affected much. It mainly refers to the digital and virtual ways of transferring funds, which are largely environmentally friendly.
Sending money online through green alternatives is beneficial in several ways. Some of the benefits include accessing a service without commuting and moving, no use of paper, and using your smartphone with a stable and secure Internet connection.
A closer look at online money transfer will reveal the intricate link between the practice and climate change. Millions of people transact daily, mainly through banks, significantly contributing to climate change due to operational limitations.
