Ant International Introduces S-Card for MSME Sustainability
The scorecard helps MSMEs track their environmental and social impact.
The partnership aims to remove barriers they face in adopting sustainable practices.
Ant International, a Singapore-based digital payment and financial services company, has launched the MSME Sustainability Impact Scorecard (MSME S-Card) to help Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Asia to track their sustainability and social impact.
Through the MSME S-Card, MSMEs can track their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics by gathering and verifying data through digital platforms, making it easier for them to integrate sustainability practices into their businesses.
This new digital solution is part of Programme Sirius, a collaboration between Ant International, its partners like Gprnt, and 13 Asia-Pacific financial technology companies to guide MSMEs on their sustainability journey. It supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provides practical solutions for MSMEs to improve their sustainability profile.
Gprnt, Singapore's premier digital platform for granular, comparable and verifiable ESG data, will provide its technology to simplify the process of collecting and reporting sustainability data, while GCash, a digital payment platform in the Philippines, will customise the scorecard to suit the local market.
The partnership's main objective is to make it easier for small and medium enterprises to access financial resources and sustainability support and to remove obstacles they face in adopting ESG practices, such as high upfront costs and limited knowledge.
Leiming Chen, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ant International, said: "One of the key priorities when we launched Programme Sirius earlier this year was to address the critical challenge of sustainability inclusion for MSMEs, who are being left behind in the global shift towards sustainability, missing out on new opportunities.
"We hope that the MSME S-Card, the first initiative under Programme Sirius, will offer a benchmark for MSMEs and financial institutions to work together to support MSMEs' sustainability journey, enabling them to contribute to a shared vision for a better future while gaining practical benefits from sustainable payments, ESG reporting, and green financing."
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Source: Ant International
