Episode 15

The world's first plastic-free wooden card: Solving the 6 billion annual plastic cards production challenge | Christian Lehringer, CEO at Copecto

My guest today is Christian Lehringer, CEO at Copecto. Copecto’s innovative product is The TIMBERCARD. The world’s first plastic-free wood payment card that can be used like any conventional banking card. It is fully biodegradable, except for the chip, antenna and magnetic stripe. and when exposed to the soil, it decomposes much quicker than conventional plastic cards

We talk about the 6 billion per annum plastic cards problem and how the Timbercard is part of the solution. He talks to us about the innovative processes behind the card and the challenges in building such an innovative product, including the controversial topic of deforestation. Let’s go and create a world where we have a wood bank card in everybody’s wallet!

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👉 You can find Christian here

👉 And you can find Monica here:

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In this episode we cover:

(0:00:00) The problem of plastic cards in the payment industry

(0:03:08) Introduction to Copecto and the Timber card

(0:07:06) Definition of success and building long-term relationships

(0:13:03) Purpose of using wood as a material in Copecto's products

(0:21:02) Customers demanding sustainable products in financial services

(0:22:55) Impact of plastic card waste on the environment

(0:24:19) Size of the plastic card waste problem

(0:25:55) Biodegradable components and decomposition process of Copecto card

(0:27:07) Laser engraving and personalization options for Copecto card

(0:29:17) Contactless engraving and scheme logos on Copecto card

(0:32:18) Challenges in manufacturing and selling the product

(0:40:41) Leadership style and team approach

(0:43:37) Desire for a more balanced approach in the fintech industry


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Production and marketing by Monica Millares. For inquiries about coaching, collabs, sponsoring the podcast or creating or editing your podcast email fintechwithmoni@gmail.com


Disclaimer: This episode does not constitute professional nor financial advice and does not represent the opinion nor views of my current, past or future employers. The guest has agreed to record and release our conversation for the use of this podcast and promotion in social media.

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Monica Millares

Monica advocates for financial safety for all. She is the Product Principal at BigPay, where she leads Product and Design. As part of the founding team, Monica led building BigPay’s product from zero to one, to multi product line, and international expansion. Her leadership shaped the culture and ways of working to grow from startup to scaleup. BigPay has over 1.4 million customers, and has presence in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Monica has almost 20 years’ experience in Financial Services. Prior to BigPay, she was one of the first joiners in UK’s challenger Tandem Bank, where she focused on building credit cards from scratch. Previously she worked in leading Financial Services brands like Visa, Barclays, and a Mexican Development Bank.

She sits on the Board of PayEd, and is recognised as Singapore’s #Fintech65 Product Leaders and Women in FinTech. She’s been multiple times speaker at the prestigious conference Money2020 and shared stage with JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, Konsentus, and Money2020’s Rise Up. Her commitment to innovation and financial inclusion resonates in her podcast “Purpose Driven FinTech” where she explores how FinTech’s can have 10x more impact.

Monica has a background in Engineering and a Master’s Degree on Analysis, Design, and Management of Information Systems from the London School of Economics.