HYPO NÖ Balloon. Copyright by Andreas Riedmann/HYPO Niederösterreich.

HYPO Niederösterreich's green current and savings accounts

Green and sustainable current and savings accounts are very much in vogue - now, for the third time, such banking products have been awarded the Austrian Ecolabel. At HYPO NOE, the money deposited is used to finance sustainable projects - for example in the field of renewable energies, climate protection measures or building renovation.

The HYPO Niederösterreich product range

HYPO NOE combines the products awarded the Austrian Ecolabel under its Green Line, thus offering existing and new customers real sustainable added value. In addition to the Green Current Account, there is also the Green Power Account and the Green Time Deposit. With the Green Power Account, deposits are available daily, while the Green Time Deposit has a fixed term and a higher interest rate. The special thing about the green current account is that every month two euros of the account management fee go to one of two sustainable projects - the Noah's Ark fruit collection or the Schönbrunn Zoo's species protection project for polar bears. Deposits in the green power account or the green time deposit are used exclusively to finance projects that can be assigned to Sustainable Development Goals.

Contribution to the SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 goals formulated by the United Nations for the sustainable development of countries. HYPO Niederösterreich's current and fixed-term deposit products, which have now been certified, are aligned with some of these goals. For example, a contribution is to be made to goals 7 (sustainable and modern energy), 9 (resilient infrastructure and sustainable industrialisation), 11 (sustainable cities) and 13 (combating climate change). Financing in these areas actively contributes to the transformation of the economy.

The Austrian Ecolabel for Savings & Giro Products

Since the beginning of 2020, savings and giro products can also be certified in addition to Green Bonds (the first Green Bond to be awarded the Austrian Ecolabel was by HYPO Niederösterreich). So far, an Upper Austrian regional bank (Umweltcenter Gunskirchen) and a major bank (UniCredit Bank Austria) have offered these products. As different as the banking institutions may be, the common denominator is green project financing. Thus, the deposits of the certified accounts and savings books are matched by loans that serve to finance sustainable projects and thus drive a change towards sustainability. What can and cannot be financed is regulated by the criteria of the Austrian Ecolabel for sustainable financial products. Furthermore, the guideline sets transparency obligations so that interested customers can get as comprehensive a picture as possible.