Initial Situation

The Path to Sustainable Consumption

With its app, the Hamburg-based startup Plan3t launched the first reward system for sustainable consumption that supports its users on their way to a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. To launch the beta version in spring 2021, cc.systems was enlisted for support early on. Together, the app and backend were to be expanded.

Challenge

Successfully integrating complex financial data

To ensure users are continuously provided with new content, a dynamic feed needed to be implemented.

As a core feature of the app, users should be able to link their personal bank accounts. The app would then assign a CO₂ equivalent to each transaction, giving users an automatic overview of the emissions generated by their spending. Based on this, users would be offered eco-friendly alternatives and rewarded for purchases made with partner companies in the form of automatic cashback. This required an open banking integration that would connect bank data with Plan3t user data and function seamlessly with many different banks.

The management of user data, partner data, and reward programs was also to take place in a web-based back office, which needed to be regularly updated with new functionality.

Implementation

Robust architecture for a consistent user experience

cc.systems was heavily involved in implementing many of the system’s major components:

• Infinite Scrolling Infinite scrolling was implemented in the app to support the dynamic feed. To achieve this, the backend was adapted to handle paginated requests.

• Open Banking To connect bank accounts, we used the state-of-the-art open banking provider Tink. Due to the complexity of bank data and the intricacies of integrating different banks, it was essential to delve deeply into the Tink API.

• App Redesign In close collaboration with the designer from Plan3t, the app was given a new, modern design. To achieve this, large parts of the app were redesigned from the ground up.