Through the transition from physical cards to digital Mecenat cards in the app, Mecenat has reduced the consumption of plastic by almost 21 tons in the last five years. In total, plastic card production has decreased by 85 percent. Together with the corresponding reduction in distribution, it provides a significant environmental benefit for our work.
The transition from plastic to digital Mecenat cards is a process that’s been going on since 2014 when we started to phase out the physical plastic cards. Now when the large production volumes of the autumn have been sent out, we can see that we have reduced the production of plastic cards by 85 percent. With a card production of 1.3 million cards per year, it makes a clear difference to the environment when we have moved more than 85 percent of the volume to digital Mecenat cards
-Of course we try to solve our task as environmentally smart as possible and to transfer the Mecenat card to the mobile app is part of that work. Now we are focusing on getting the last 15 percent digital, says Jonas Levin, CEO of Mecenat AB
The reason why 15 percent are still physical cards is that some institutions have functions such as entrance, library loans, payment of lunches and more in the card. With the systems used today, that kind of features can’t be added to the app – so far. As soon as that technology is available, we can transfer the remaining percentage of the Mecenat card to the app and make them 100 percent digital.
In addition to positive impact on the environment, digital cards are also of great benefit for students, who can access their student discounts more quickly. Especially important at the start of the semester when many will travel with a student discount to the place of study and make other necessary purchases before the teaching starts.
The Mecenat app has won a number of awards over the years for its functionality and content. It is our in-house IT department that has been in charge of technology development of the app since day one, and it is an ongoing development work that continues to keep it at the forefront. It has been downloaded 1.7 million times since its launch.
