BCI and BIOFUND Raise MT 47M via Cartão Bio Since 2017

In Short

BCI and BIOFUND say they have mobilised MT 47 million since 2017 through Cartão bio, a debit card that turns small pieces of card activity into conservation funding.

What Happened

Mozambique’s BCI and BIOFUND said their partnership has raised about MT 47 million since 2017 through Cartão bio.

Cartão bio is a debit card. It works by sending a percentage of card transactions made at POS terminals, plus a contribution tied to card issuance, to a pool that funds biodiversity protection. A POS terminal is the card machine at a shop checkout.

The organisations said these contributions do not add extra costs for cardholders. They also said the mechanism has around 45,000 users.

From the MT 47 million raised, about MT 33 million has already been allocated to conservation and community development projects. The remaining MT 14 million is still available for future initiatives.

The results were presented on October 15, 2026 in Maputo, during a seminar focused on showcasing projects supported by the mechanism.

According to the update, the first 12 supported projects covered work such as protecting threatened species, reducing human and wildlife conflict, and promoting sustainable livelihoods. The report highlighted examples in Maputo, Manica, and Chimanimani, including elephant monitoring, farm protection, beekeeping, and pangolin recovery.

Why It Matters

Mozambique’s conservation sector often depends on public budgets and international donors, which can be irregular. Cartão bio shows a different route, using everyday electronic payments to generate steady private funding.

For banks, this type of product can also act as a practical ESG channel, connecting retail customers to measurable environmental outcomes without asking them to change behaviour.

If the model scales, it could encourage more financial institutions to build similar card-linked contributions, and broaden how conservation projects are funded in Mozambique.