Banco Nacional and AguaTica present the BN Débito Agua card, the first and only bank card in the world created to protect aquifers and help guarantee a nation’s water conservation.
“The BN Débito Agua card benefits the environment in two ways: it is made with 85.5% recycled plastic, and each time a customer uses it, a percentage of the commission charged by the Bank will go to preserve drinking water,” explained María Brenes, general director of Institutional Relations and Sustainability of Banco Nacional.
Worldwide, 2 billion people (26% of the population) are without safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion (46%) lack access to safely managed sanitation, according to a report published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water and released at the United Nations Water Conference 2023.
The BN Débito Agua card is an innovative product that seeks to provide an innovative solution to Costa Rica’s water conservation needs.
Whenever someone uses the BN Débito Agua card, a percentage goes toward the protection of aquifers and the conservation of the sub-basins of the rivers Grande de Tárcoles and Virilla, which pass through 33 cantons of the country, supply 57% of the population of Costa Rica, and are of vital importance to the national industry.
Agua Tica is the first public-private and civil society water fund in Central America; BLP is a strategic partner in the creation and sustainability of this initiative, leading its legal structuring through Sustainability by BLP. On the presentation of this new product BLP partner Mauricio Salas, legal adviser and member of the board of directors of this institution, comments: “This is a historic milestone for the financial industry in Costa Rica in the fight to preserve the environment. For the first time, a bank creates a product destined to conserve a country’s aquifers.”
At BLP, we are proud to support initiatives aimed at conserving the planet, aligned with our commitment to the sustainable development of Central America, being the strategic legal ally of choice for this type of project in any of the five countries.
Our commitment to sustainable development is reflected in certifications by the Ecological Blue Flag Program and Carbon Neutral Plus, which have honored BLP on multiple occasions.