Banks that want to lend with a conscience may have just been given a serious helping hand. Indian technology giant Tech Mahindra (TECHM) has introduced a new platform ' i.GreenFinance ” which aims to help banks and lenders negotiate the complex world of green and sustainability-related finance through artificial intelligence.IT Brief Asia+1
i.GreenFinance is not just another fintech widget. Developed in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the tool uses cloud computing and generative artificial intelligence to automate ESG (environmental, social, governance) data collection, scoring, reporting and compliance – from loan origination to disbursement and post-fund utilization tracking.
This will require real-time checks, audit-ready reports and – most importantly – verification that green money is actually being used for green projects. IT Brief Asia+1
What's cool (and, honestly, a little overdue) is how this solves one of the biggest obstacles to sustainable finance: unreliable ESG data and inconsistent regulation.
Green lending at scale has long been hampered by a lack of widely agreed ESG metrics and fragmented data, said Ahluwalia, chief sustainability officer at Tech Mahindra. i.Green Finance is committed to addressing this issue with a standardized ESG rating, enabling lenders, at least in theory, to scale green portfolios with confidence across regions. IT Brief Asia+1
The timing couldn't be better. As more countries take steps to tighten disclosure regulations and investors increasingly push for improved environmental responsibility, AI-powered ESG tools are becoming more and more necessary.
Artificial intelligence has become a key player in ESG reporting – the analysis shows that this is reprehensible for data automation and ongoing monitoring of compliance with constantly changing regulations. ME+1 consulting
Naturally – it's not all rainbows and sunshine. Experts, however, are quick to warn that while AI can improve ESG and sustainability ratings, it is only as good as the data that powers it, and whether the underlying data can be trusted may depend largely on how transparent companies are about their operations. Artificial intelligence models and how consistently they are able to deliver robust governance.
Some research papers even warn about “energy cost trade-offs” and the difficulty of ensuring ethical oversight when automating sustainability decisions. Inrate+2arXiv+2
Still, I have to ask the question: creating something like i.GreenFinance certainly seems like a big, optimistic bet for tomorrow's world where banks not only lend, but also invest with real responsibility.
If other lenders followed this model, perhaps green finance would no longer be a niche, and perhaps it would become the new norm.
