Industries
Procurement Scope 3 for banking measuring what is bought, not only what is financed.
A financial institution buys services, technology, materials, maintenance, facility supplies and capital goods, and all of it falls under Categories 1 and 2 of its Scope 3. Xain measures those purchases with physical factors from purchase lines and the available documentation. Financed emissions are a different calculation, which this page does not cover.
Key figures
<10min
of your work in Xain Insight: the purchases spreadsheet from your ERP. Results in 1–2 weeks.
What a bank buys
What goes into an institution’s purchases?
Many of a bank’s purchases are services or office goods. The physical method is applied to what is bought, not to the price paid.
Technology
Equipment, contracted data centres and digital services.
Facilities
Maintenance, cleaning, supplies and works.
Professional services
Consulting, audit, advertising and outsourcing.
Office goods
Paper, furniture, uniforms and materials.
A bank’s Scope 3 is usually associated with financed emissions, but the institution also buys, and those purchases are a part of its inventory that can be measured in much more detail than spend allows.
Which purchases does this page cover?
Categories 1 and 2 of Scope 3: purchased goods and services, and capital goods. In a financial institution these are mainly services (technology, consulting, audit, advertising, process outsourcing), facility supplies and equipment. Financed emissions sit in another category (15), and are not what Xain covers in this solution.
How are services measured?
With a process tree and physical factors, just like a product: what is delivered, by whom, with what resources and how much travel. A spend-based calculation would assign more emissions to the more expensive consultancy, even if it delivers a lighter service. We explain it in physical factors versus spend.
Why do it now?
Institutions bound by the CSRD and ESRS E1 need to document their Scope 3, and their suppliers receive requests. And if you are a supplier to a bank, they may already be asking you for a figure for your service.
How do you start?
With the purchase lines from your ERP or a list, and less than 10 minutes of your work. See the procurement Scope 3 solution and the Category 1 guide.
What data do you gather to start?
- Purchase lines from the last financial year, with supplier and description.
- The service contracts with most weight: technology, consulting, maintenance, advertising.
- Available documentation for the goods you buy (data sheets, specifications).
- Who in procurement and who in sustainability will be the contacts.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up purchases and financed emissions. They are different categories and methods.
- Measuring everything at once. Start with the categories that weigh the most.
- Choosing a supplier with a spend-based calculation. Price does not reflect the impact of the service.
Want a first result for your purchases? Talk to us.
Frequently asked questions
What companies usually ask before getting started.
Does it cover financed emissions?
No. This page deals with the institution’s own purchases (Categories 1 and 2). Emissions associated with the financing portfolio (Category 15) are a different calculation, with other data and another method.
Why is spend not enough?
Because the price of a service does not reflect its impact, and a bank buys mostly services. A physical calculation starts from what is bought and how it is delivered.
How much time does it take?
Less than 10 minutes to export the purchases spreadsheet from the ERP, with results in 1 to 2 weeks.
Keep reading
Scope 3 for purchases
Measure purchased-goods Scope 3 (Categories 1 and 2) with physical factors. Xain Insight needs only the ERP spreadsheet: less than 10 minutes.
Calculating Category 1
Guide to calculating Scope 3 Category 1, purchased goods and services: the four GHG Protocol methods, the steps and when each one fits best.
CSRD and ESRS E1
What changed with Directive 2026/470 and the revised ESRS, who the CSRD obliges and how it affects Scope 3 and suppliers. Sources: EUR-Lex and the Commission.
Physical vs spend factors
Differences between spend-based and physical emission factors: how they are calculated, what errors they cause and when each fits for products and Scope 3.
Tell us what you want to measure
One product, a catalogue or your purchases. We reply with the next steps.
Contact Xain