Peter Thiels VC fund backs TreeCard, a fintech that plants trees when you spend
Summary
How an intellectual approach and a whimsical mascot helped lead to this funds number one ranking The firm uses 80% of the profits it makes from card interchange fees to plant trees through a partnership with green search engine Ecosia. Super apps act as all-in-one platforms that serve a range of user needs spanning instant messaging, banking and travel. Higher rates on the fees merchants must pay every time a customer uses their card to spend make the U.S. a more lucrative opportunity than Europe, TreeCards CEO said. Analysis from campaign groups Urgewald, Reclaim Finance and more than two dozen other NGOs found that commercial banks channeled $1.5 trillion to the coal industry between January 2019 and November last year. TreeCards funding also defies some of the troubles being faced in the fintech sector, where firms are putting listing plans on ice and cutting back on expenses to brace for a likely recession.