Reduction of environmental burden

Environmental problems and the deterioration of biodiversity around the world is a serious issue that significantly impacts the future of a company’s business such as resources and economy. In particular, climate change risks can be a serious threat that impacts future generations, causing rises in sea level, increase in abnormal weather and affects agriculture and fishing industries, and therefore it is necessary to strengthen initiatives to reduce the burden on the environment.

Seven Bank will work on the reduction of environmental burden through offering of financial services that incorporate technological innovation and promote improvement in employees’ environmental awareness and activities to preserve the natural environment in cooperation with its group companies.

Since the initial stage of development, the fourth-generation ATM model released in 2019 aimed to not only improve features and performance but also to contribute even better to society and the environment so as to meet broader customers’ and social needs. To reduce energy consumption compared to the older models, and to realize the ATM of the future incorporating sophisticated components to enable such functions as facial recognition and Individual Number Card reading — to achieve these two goals, the development team revised circuit designs in the ATM and selected low-power-consumption parts wherever possible, collaborating with business partners. This reduced power consumption by 40% in the fourth-generation ATM model.

As part of our efforts to reduce ATM slips, in addition to providing buttons to allow customers to choose whether to print a slip upon each transaction, we have eliminated slips which were automatically printed in the event of a PIN error or an insufficient account balance since FY2021. This has resulted in an annual reduction of around 20 million slips compared to the figure before the elimination of slips for PIN errors and insufficient balances (FY2020). In addition, the number of vehicle dispatches due to slip paper shortage has been reduced by about 50% compared to FY2020.

A security company must transport cash by vehicle when replenishing an ATM. The security company reduces CO2 emissions from transporting cash by analyzing the usage of each ATM separately and reducing the frequency of cash transportation. In addition, we achieve stable, efficient operation of ATMs in 7-Eleven stores by putting cash from store sales proceeds into their ATMs.

Seven Bank is making strong efforts to reduce environmental loads in order to achieve the target of “substantially no CO2 emission associated with store operation” set in the Seven & i Group’s environmental declaration “GREEN CHALLENGE 2050.” To quantify the load we impose on the environment, we calculate our CO2 emissions for each fiscal year.
The amount of CO2 emissions produced in FY2022 at the four dedicated offices of the Bank and three directly-managed Seven Bank ATM locations are as shown below.

Scope 1 Direct GHG emissions of the reporting company itself (e.g., fuel combustion, industrial processes) 0 t-CO2
Scope 2 Indirect emissions from use of electricity, heat, etc. supplied by other companies 663 t-CO2
Scope 3 Indirect emissions other than Scope 1 and Scope 2 (emissions by other companies related to the reporting company’s activities) 17,787 t-CO2

For ATMs, we have proactively introduced recycled materials and adopted an easy-to-maintain structure, etc. from a design phase. In the event of defects, we perform parts replacement and maintenance and make other efforts to extend its life.

When remodeling or closing a 7-Eleven store, or when putting in a new fourth-generation ATM, old ATMs are removed and collected and, if the machine itself can be reused, it undergoes maintenance and is put back into use, or even individual parts will be reused in other machines. ATMs which are too old and can no longer be reused are recycled with the help of recycling business operators, thus we achieve a recycling rate of around 100% for ATMs.

We use FSCR certified paper for the cash envelopes and various leaflets at our ATMs and free copies of the children’s picture book “Mori no Senshi (Guardian of the Forest) Bonolon,” which are supported by Seven Bank. Forest Stewardship Council (FSCR) certified paper is paper made from lumber cut from properly managed forests or other low-risk lumber. Seven Bank will continue to expand the use of environmentally-friendly FSCR certified paper.

We have established and are recommending a policy, with regards to the office supplies we use internally as well as printing services, of procuring items with a low environmental burden from suppliers who promote environmental conservation.
In the selection of office supplies and printing services, in addition to the required quality and functionality, we are striving to purchase products and services prioritizing the fulfillment of requirements to reduce environmental burden, such as whether hazardous chemicals are used and whether the relevant item can be used for a long time, reused and recycled in order to realize a circulating society.