With the mobile app of United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), part of KBC Group in Bulgaria, the Bank’s customers can now monitor the carbon footprint of their posted transactions. The recent digital innovation of the biggest bank in Bulgaria in terms of assets targets those customers, who want to enhance the level of their responsible behaviour towards the environment and the sustainable development.

The Carbon Footprint function is accessible in UBB Mobile, and it can be activated easily through Transactions menu of the selected bank card. The functionality must be switched on only once and it starts calculating the carbon emissions of all purchases made with the card. Its activation is utterly free of charge, and the functionality can be deactivated and activated again at any time. It analyses every posted card transaction and shows its approximate carbon footprint (CO2e). Calculations are based on the category of the merchant where the purchase has been made and are being multiplied by an „emission factor“, specific to the particular category of merchants and region of the purchase.

The shown carbon footprint values are approximate, as the app does not know the content of the purchases made. The calculations aim to provide a better understanding of the impact of daily purchases on nature. For better understanding the function provides a purchase equivalence or what would its equivalent be as compared to various high emission activities, for example: fuel, used for driving between different cities, thrown away paper as waste, air flight etc..

The new functionality of UBB Mobile shows UBB’s comprehensive understanding about the responsible behaviour towards the protection of the environment. The role of the mobile application, which has been offering an ever-growing number of products and services, linked to every person’s way of living, is to save time and facilitate to a maximum extent the daily routine. Along with that by categorizing customers, introducing the carbon footprint function and the option to personalize the app, UBB aims to encompass domains of life, such as responsible behaviour, cost planning, protection of the environment. These types of functionalities in the mobile app will be developed and upgraded on an ongoing basis.

UBB is the digital leader in the Bulgarian banking sector, and it constantly improves and expands the scope of its digital services. In April the Bank has already launched a new and enriched version of UBB Mobile, which is being actively used by more than 1 million customers. For UBB’s achievements in the field of innovations the prestigious magazine Global Finance has designated it as the Best Innovative Bank and the Best Digital Bank for Customers in Bulgaria in 2025. The Bank has been distinguished with a prize for „Digital Transformation“ and for „Best Active Digital Product“ for the voice-initiated fund transfers through the AI-based digital assistant Kate at the Bank of the Year competition and others.