Finance & Investment Circular Economy

Ando Launching World's First 100% Fossil-Free Insurance Program

Through partnerships with leading providers including Allstate, Nationwide and Travelers, Ando aims to expand the scope of financial independence from fossil fuels available to sustainability-conscious consumers.

Published 2 years ago | About a 2 minute read

Image: Giuliana Tezza Giuli/Pixabay

Sustainable digital banking service Ando is launching a new insurance program that will insure (pun intended) that none of the customers' premiums will be used to invest in fossil fuels.

Opening to the public in July, the program will enable Ando customers to purchase new auto, homeowners, renters, pet and umbrella policies through its insurance partners — including Nationwide, Allstate and Travelers — or transfer their existing policies to Ando to serve as their agent. Ando will also plant 100 trees for every policy opened through the program.

As a founding member of the recently launched Fossil Free Banking Alliance — a group of banking institutions working to make it easier for climate-conscious individuals to move their money away from banks that continue to finance the fossil fuel industry — Ando's goal is to offer the first-ever insurance policies that enable its customers to personally "divest" by guaranteeing customer capital will never be invested in any facet of the fossil fuel industry.

The company launched in 2021 to provide a banking alternative for the millions of Americans who strive to lower their climate footprint but were unaware of how their deposits at traditional banks were used to invest in fossil fuels — a recent Bank of the West report found that while 79 percent of banking customers surveyed are “passionate” about climate change, only 22 percent actually know if their bank is financing fossil fuels. Ando is one of the growing number of providers working to empower conscious consumers to direct their money toward institutions that better align with their values. By offering the same alternative in insurance, Ando will expand the scope of financial independence from fossil fuels available to sustainability-conscious consumers.

According to a report by S&P Global, US insurance companies have used customers' premiums to invest $582 billion in fossil fuels. These investments allow gas, oil, coal and other fossil fuel companies to continue building new extraction infrastructure that forestalls the continued development and scaling of renewable energy technologies and infrastructure. Ando's ultimate goal is for customer premiums to instead be invested in loans that directly fight climate change — such as those related to clean energy, reforestation, ‘green’ building, etc.

"Ando was founded on the understanding that the best way to fight climate change is by making sure our money isn't going to the fossil fuel industry," said president and CEO JP McNeill. "We've tackled this issue with our banking services and now we are breaking entirely new ground by opening the door to clean insurance. With this program, our customers have the opportunity to be active participants in pushing for historic change in how the insurance industry does business."