Sustainability

As part of Visa CEMEA Innovation, I led the creation of the Sustainability Setplay — a go-to-market framework enabling banks, merchants, and partners to design products and services that embed sustainability into the customer experience.

The framework bridges ESG strategy, behavioural design, and product/service innovation to help partners launch propositions that make sustainable choices visible, rewarding, and easy for users.

Our flagship application was the FAB × Etihad Visa Sustainable Card — the world’s first Visa co-branded sustainable credit card proposition that rewards customers for sustainable lifestyle and travel choices. This was a full end-to-end design project, from strategy to proposition design, persona creation, journey mapping, MVP definition, and experience blueprinting.

Challenge

Sustainability has become a business imperative for financial institutions — but most lacked:

  • A structured approach to integrate ESG goals into customer-facing products

  • A way to measure, communicate, and reward sustainable choices in a credible way

  • Design patterns and implementation guidance to accelerate time-to-market

We set out to create a scaleable framework that could help Visa’s partners quickly design sustainability propositions — and prove its value by delivering a high-profile launch in the UAE.

Approach

Part 1 — The Sustainability Setplay Framework

A structured design playbook that:

  1. Frames ESG opportunity within financial services

  2. Identifies customer touchpoints for integrating sustainability triggers and rewards

  3. Provides behavioural design principles for driving adoption

  4. Maps partner ecosystems (banks, retailers, travel, NGOs) for maximum impact

Key Modules:

  • ESG Product Pathways

  • UX & Communication Guidelines

  • Rewards & Incentives Matrix

  • Partner Activation Model

Part 2 — The FAB × Etihad Sustainable Card Proposition

Objective:
Launch the first Visa co-branded sustainable credit card proposition globally.

How it Works:

  • Cardholders earn Etihad Guest Miles for sustainable lifestyle choices (eco-friendly travel, green merchants, carbon offset purchases)

  • Integrated Visa Eco Benefits API provides customers with insights on their carbon footprint

  • Rewards program designed to incentivize repeat sustainable actions both in travel and everyday spending

Design Focus:

  • Clear communication of sustainability benefits

  • Simple onboarding and feature discovery

  • Emotional connection through travel & environmental impact storytelling

  • Trust cues linking FAB, Etihad, and Visa sustainability commitments

Notable Outcomes

  • Strategic Enablement: Created a sustainability innovation playbook now used with other Visa CEMEA partners

  • Flagship Launch: FAB × Etihad card became the world’s first Visa co-branded sustainable credit card proposition

  • Cross-Industry Collaboration: Brought together a leading bank, a national airline, and Visa to deliver an integrated ESG product

  • Behavioral Impact Potential: Designed to encourage measurable sustainable behaviors through targeted rewards and transparent impact tracking

Reflection

This project demonstrated how strategic frameworks and behavioral product design can turn ESG goals into tangible, market-ready propositions. The Setplay enables Visa’s partners to move faster from sustainability intent to impactful product — and the FAB × Etihad launch proved it works at scale.