Enable EcoTrack

In this guide you will learn how to implement EcoTrack, the sustainability enrichment, for card transactions and transfers.

EcoTrack comprises three components:

  • CO2 footprint of transactions
  • Eco tags
  • Eco tips

Each of these elements can be implemented independently. Therefore, this guide covers essential factors for retrieving all of them, ensuring a seamless integration process.

EcoTrack is an extension of the core Tapix payment enrichment API. Due to that, before you begin with this guide, you should familiarize yourself with the basic knowledge from Getting started with Tapix tutorial and the respective guides for enriching card payment data or bank transfers.

CO2 footprint

To learn what input data is required, and its ideal structure used to enrich the card payment data – refer to this link. Additionally, currency and amount are necessary parameters for receiving CO2 values.

Additional query parameters:

  • amount number, necessary — The payment amount. A negative value usually means a refund for the purchase. Example: 800.5
  • currency string, necessary — The currency in which the payment is made represented by a three-letter alphabetic code. ISO 4217. Example: EUR

Note that in case of missing these parameters, the CO2 footprint will not be retrieved.

CO2 coefficients are calculated by considering various parameters extracted from primary input data, including merchant details, category, tags, country, and region. These coefficients are then multiplied by the transaction amount and adjusted based on the currency used in the calculation. EcoTrack is available for any /findByendpoint, therefore card transactions and all types of bank transfers can be enriched with a CO2footprint. To understand properly the different endpoints, head to the previous guides.

Please be aware that EcoTrack is not automatically accessible and requires activation by the Dateio team. If you wish to obtain the CO2 values, please contact support@tapix.io

Get information from card payment data

Before you begin with this guide, you should familiarize yourself with the basic knowledge from Enrich card payment data

In an ideal scenario you provide us with as much data as possible, we have the ability to recognize it and aim for enriching it with CO2 footprint.

Note that in some cases you may find it irrelevant to return CO2 value – for example for ATM withdrawals or categories such as Financial Services. It's advisable to discuss with the Dateio team whether CO2values for these transactions should still be retrieved or if you prefer to disable EcoTrack for specific transaction types.

The query, in an ideal case, should look something like this:

/v6/shops/findByCardTransaction?posId=820014&merchantId=180520001&description=TESC0%20PRAHA%20ZLICIN%20PRAHA%20CZ&city=PRAHA&country=CZ&refresh=false&currency=EUR&amount=20

Response to such query would look like this:

{ 
    "result": "found", 
    "handle": "$hl9O65JsYp6jl9NmlAwW1t", 
    "shop": { 
        "uid": "MmPdedgnvjXiRZnBJzJQKb" 
    }, 
    "co2Footprint": { 
        "value": 9.48, 
        "unit": "kg" 
    } 
}

As you can see, you successfully retrieved CO2 value beside information necessary to proceed with getting information about the shop. To learn more, head to the Get shop and merchant information tutorial.

Get information from bank transfer data

Before you begin with this guide, you should have familiarize yourself with Enrich bank transfer data tutorial.

CO2 footprint is available for all bank transfer endpoints:

  • SEPA /shops/findByBankTransfer/sepa
  • BACS/Faster Payment /shops/findByBankTransfer/uk
  • CERTIS /shops/findByBankTransfer/certis

Find the examples for each endpoint below:

SEPA

/v6/shops/findByBankTransfer/sepa?bic=ING%20BNL2A&iban=NL89INGB0000231412&city=Amsterdam&zip=1012%20XG&country=NL&refresh=false&currency=EUR&amount=30

For which the response will be this:

{ 
    "result": "found", 
    "handle": "qepY7ojyZbZijjlY1aAr1X", 
    "shop": { 
        "uid": "qepY7ojyZbZijjlY1aAr1X" 
    }, 
    "co2Footprint": { 
        "value": 15.66, 
        "unit": "kg" 
    } 
}

BACS/Faster Payment

/v6/shops/findByBankTransfer/uk?accountNumber=23908394&paymentType=O&paymentMethod=FP&name=FEDEX%20EXPRESS%20UK%20TRA&sortCode=013099&refresh=false&currency=GBP&amount=20

For which the response will be this:

{ 
    "result": "found", 
    "handle": "kLr8DbqrLpfnzrzLZWPe9", 
    "shop": { 
        "uid": "kLr8DbqrLpfnzrzLZWPe9" 
    }, 
    "co2Footprint": { 
        "value": 2.94, 
        "unit": "kg" 
    } 
}

CERTIS

/v6/shops/findByBankTransfer/certis?accountNumberPrefix=&accountNumber=188505042&bankCode=0300&accountName=Alza.cz%20a.s.&paymentType=O&message=Invoice%20Payment&note=laptop%20alza&refresh=false&currency=CZK&amount=500

For which the response will be this:

{ 
    "result": "found", 
    "handle": "Xev87bVd9EXtMWvAaWm8Qe", 
    "shop": { 
        "uid": "Xev87bVd9EXtMWvAaWm8Qe" 
    }, 
    "co2Footprint": { 
        "value": 14.67, 
        "unit": "kg" 
    } 
}

As you can see, you successfully retrieved CO2 value beside information necessary to proceed with getting information about the shop. To learn more, head to the Get shop and merchant information tutorial.

Not so ideal scenarios

Certain situations may lead to encountering an "unsolved" shop in the response. Such cases are:

  • The information you provide is not enough to find the respective shop or we don’t have the data yet
  • The information you provide is not enough to find the respective shop or we don’t have the data yet

For guidance on working with incomplete data, refer to Enrich card payment data to learn more.

Note that there are instances where returning the CO2 value might lead to confusing results, such as when the shop is unsolved or when there is insufficient information about the merchant. In such cases it may lead to compromised and incomplete results, impacting the accuracy of the CO2 footprint. In cases where not all data points are accessible, the CO2 footprint can still be calculated based on country or regional averages, but without specific adjustments for the category. Please consider whether you still want to show these default values or whether you want to not have these transactions with a CO2 value.

Note that currency and amount are necessary parameters. In case of missing these parameters, the CO2footprint will not be retrieved.

The query might look like this:

/v6/shops/findByCardTransaction?merchantId=1290076&refresh=false&currency=EUR&amount=10

For which the response will be this:

{ 
    "result": "unsolved", 
    "handle": "!6llsOZdF6wmljFoujQXUs7", 
    "co2Footprint": { 
        "value": 3.92, 
        "unit": "kg" 
    } 
}

Notice that despite the unsolved status of the shop, the CO2 footprint might still be provided. However, its accuracy may be compromised due to fewer data points, resulting in the use of default values based on averages.

You can reach Enrich card payment data to learn more about unsolved shops.

Eco tags

Please be aware that EcoTrack is not automatically accessible and requires activation by the Dateio team. If you wish to obtain the eco tags, please contact support@tapix.io.

When you have eco tags enabled, they will be obtained alongside all standard tags. To learn more, head to the Get shop and merchant information tutorial.