Beyond Transactions: Mobilizing Digital Banking Communication for Environmental Awareness

In the digital era, individuals are learning more and more about digital banking as a way to handle money and a way to modify how individuals respond in social and environmental conditions. Because climate change is becoming a bigger problem and people want to live more sustainably, banks are expected to go beyond just showing they care about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and start utilizing incorporated sustainability strategies. This study examines the incorporation of environmental communication via blu by BCA Digital, a digital-native Indonesian bank, through its interdisciplinary engagement with the waste management platform Rekosistem. Using framing theory and strategic sustainable communication, a qualitative content analysis was done on 47 communication materials that came out between 2022 and 2024. These materials included Instagram posts, app notifications, press releases, promotional presentations, and internal reports. The findings reveal three communication strategies: (1) behavioral framing that links waste sorting to financial incentives via Rekopoint, (2) the integration of sustainability into the digital product ecosystem, exemplified by blUnion, and (3) participatory storytelling that engages individuals emotionally. These tactics make environmental messages look like they belong, don’t annoy people, and are vital to them. The work contributes to the literature on green fintech and participatory CSR by demonstrating the incorporation of environmental narratives into standard financial transactions, enabling a shift from symbolic CSR to concrete behavioral transformation. In practice, it allows banks and other financial institutions a method to talk to one other about how to grow their businesses while also taking care of the environment in the digital age.