Only half of financial services firms have so far developed a detailed plan to use technology to improve environmental sustainability, but 90 per cent believe that demonstrating their green credentials is important to keeping a good reputation, according to research by Datamonitor for BT.
Many finance firms see technology as holding the key to bridging the current gap between their relative inaction on sustainability and their understanding of the issue’s importance, but few have so far made tangible progress, the study shows.
However, one in three said that the main driver to increase their levels of IT investment over the next five years would be to enable improved sustainability, and expected to follow this road.
The research also found that 31 per cent of financial institutions said tackling green concerns was crucial to keeping pace with growing customer demands for green products and services.
The sector-specific findings came out of wider research by Datamonitor for BT on sustainability. The study, conducted in November, was based on responses from 350 senior executives in companies with more than 500 employees.