- CBA's Green Loan offers loan for clean energy products at low interest rates
- CBA has already funded $4 million worth of clean energy products through these loans
- CBA also launched a Sustainability Hub to educate customers about clean energy
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has recently made its Green Loan available to 600,000 customers nationally.
The loan makes it easier for eligible customers to purchase and install up to $20,000 worth clean energy products by offering an historically low 0.99% p.a. secured fixed rate over 10 years with no establishment fee, monthly loan service fee or early repayment fees.
Aiming to empower Australians to reduce and offset their emissions through affordable and sustainable housing solutions, CBA has funded $4 million worth of clean energy products.
CBA estimates that customers have reduced emissions by 60 tonnes.
“With over 11 million retail customers and more than 25 per cent of the home loan market with the CBA Group, we have a responsibility to provide solutions for customers that reduce their environmental impact,” said CBA Group Executive Angus Sullivan.
“The Green Loan is an important step towards helping our customers and communities move to cheaper, clean energy technologies.”
The move by CBA is the latest in a trend by corporations committing to being more environmentally friendly (apart of a business model called Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR).
For example, earlier this year, multinational property and infrastructure company Lendlease committed to reducing their carbon emissions, assisted by CBA in issuing ‘green’ bonds.
These funds aim to help Lendlease deliver green building projects that will lower carbon emissions, reduce the environmental impact of materials, and deliver health and well-being benefits. CBA acted as joint lead manager as well as green bond advisor on both transactions.
In addition to the green loan, CBA launched a Sustainability Hub to educate customers about clean energy and help them reduce their environmental footprint. They said it will provide customers with the information necessary to take advantage of products such as the Green Loan.
“The Green Loan is our first customer-facing product and I’m excited because we have been doing a lot of work in this space and have some exciting announcements coming,” said Mr Sullivan.
“In May, we announced a partnership with Amber, a new type of energy retailer, giving customers direct access to the real-time energy price for a monthly subscription fee and all energy is carbon neutral. This partnership, alongside our Green Loan, will provide more value for our home loan customers by empowering them to access clean energy products and save more on their energy,” he said.
The bank is also also looking at how they can enable customers to reduce their environmental footprint. They are actively exploring solutions for electric vehicle financing, for example.
