The responsible bank to promote responsible holidays

Proving once again that it stands firmly beside its proposition of being the responsible choice, Sampath Bank announced its latest innovation in the banking sector.  Teaming up with The Carbon Consulting Company, the country’s leading provider of corporate sustainability solutions, the bank unveiled its ‘Carbon Neutral Hotel Stay’ programme. 

Certified by the Carbon Consulting Company as a ZeroCarbon Hotel Stay, the bank from now on undertakes to completely offset the carbon emissions of any hotel stays made through its credit cards. 

Remarking on this ground-breaking initiative, Sampath Bank PLC Senior Deputy General Manager – Consumer Banking Tharaka Ranwala said: “At Sampath Bank, we are strongly driven toward creating a positive impact not just for the citizens and country, but to the environment that provides us with unlimited and invaluable resources to carry on with our daily activities. As such, by being positioned amongst the masses as a responsible choice, we took it upon ourselves to be an integral contributor to our environment that has been providing us with a planet which will be the home and future of our generations. Putting together the expertise of Sampath Bank and The Carbon Consulting Company, we strongly believe that together we can build a greener future for betterment of the earth and the people.”

A hotel stay carbon footprint consists of emissions associated with energy consumption in terms of fuel and electricity usage and waste generation, during an overnight stay of a guest in a paid accommodation in the hospitality and tourism industry. The average CO2e emissions per different types of accommodation were assessed through a study done by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Using this research and providing for a significant buffer, Sampath Bank will commit to bringing the carbon emissions of their customers’ hotel stay to ‘net zero’ status by investing in local and international green energy projects through the internationally recognised mechanism of carbon credits.

All Sampath credit card customers have to do is to pay for their hotel stay using the credit card and Sampath Bank will retire the necessary amount of carbon credits corresponding to that stay through The Carbon Consulting Company. 

“This is a ground breaking and innovative concept in responsible tourism,” said The Carbon Consulting Company CEO Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne. “To the best of our knowledge nowhere else in the world is there such a facility where, a credit card issuer completely offsets its customers’ carbon footprints at no cost to them. When we at Carbon Consulting Company conceived of the idea it was immediately evident that Sampath Cards were the obvious choice in the local credit card market.  Havening completely disrupted the market with the endearing proposition of ‘the responsible choice’ in credit cards, Sampath cards have now extended this proposition to an aspect of environmental responsibility as well. Now the card holders can rest assured that the environmental impacts of their hotel stay have been completely negated by their Sampath credit card. We are privileged to work with such a visionary and environmentally conscious brand as Sampath cards and we look forward to bringing further innovation into the environmental field together.”

Sampath Bank has continued to remain a forerunner in venturing into unique initiatives that not only brings about positive change in the lives of citizens, the country and the economy, but also guarantees a sustainable future for the environment and its natural resources. As such, this ground-breaking project is yet another justification of Sampath Bank’s promise to a responsible choice and a responsible corporate citizen for the betterment of the people, the nation and the earth.