Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Transforming Commerce
• Expanding Access
• Investing in Our People
• Operating Responsibly
• Strengthening Communities

Environmental Achievements

• Achieved LEED green-building certification for 57% of corporate real estate portfolio by square footage; an additional 8% is pending certification review
• Increased landfill diversion rate from 57% in 2014 to 67% in 2015 and 76% in 2016
• Emissions per employee decreased 13% vs. 2015; decreased 49% vs. 2009 baseline
• Emissions per square foot of space decreased 8% vs. 2015; decreased 25% vs. 2009 baseline
• Emissions per dollar revenue decreased 5% vs. 2015; decreased 46% vs. 2009 baseline

Social Achievements

• Reached cumulative 40 million+ individuals via Visa’s financial literacy programs, now offered in 42 markets around the world
• Volunteered 18,291 hours by employees across 78 Visa offices
• Launched Visa University through physical campuses in San Francisco area and Singapore plus a new global virtual campus to support employee professional development
• Expanded advancement of women through our White House Equal Pay Pledge, Women Leadership Training, Ready to Return program and support of female entrepreneurs
• Continued adopting and tailoring our core business lines and establishing commercial and philanthropic partnerships to expand access
• Collaborated with partners to reach cumulative 162 million consumers with first-time payment account access since January 2015

Governance Achievements

• Maintained 50% of Board of Directors with ethnic, gender and national diversity
• Improved Code of Conduct; named to Ethisphere World’s Most Ethical Companies list for fifth year running
• Trained more than 600 participants from 17 countries through Visa School of Public Policy
• Named as top-tier Trendsetter for political disclosure and accountability through CPA-Zicklin Index

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Growing volume, sophistication and organization of cyberattacks
• Small merchants don’t readily see the full value of digital, citing start-up, cost and processing challenges, while underestimating the high real cost of cash
• Low-income households — especially minority households — are twice as likely as other populations to be underserved

Mitigation Strategies

• Working with all participants in the payments industry to implement the full range of technologies that will fight cyber attacks and fraud and further protect payment data
• Partnering to design tailored financial services and market approaches; promote government incentives, such as tax credits for digital payments; and educate merchants
• Working with a variety of partners to provide access to the financial tools and resources that can help these communities save for the future, weather shocks and build assets

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Visa Standards of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI G4 Guidelines (Core)

Certifications: LEED, ISO 14001

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 13
• Goal 5
• Goal 1
• Goal 8

Awards & Recognition

• World’s Most Ethical Companies (Ethisphere)
• Award for Governance Team of the Year (Corporate Secretary magazine)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Empowering People & Economies
• Securing Commerce & Protecting Customers
• Investing in Our Workforce
• Operating Sustainably & Responsibly

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions year over year for the second consecutive year
• Committed to transition to 100% renewable electricity by 2020
• 67 percent of Visa’s owned or leased square footage achieved LEED (or other green-building certification)

Social Achievements

• Expanded financial empowerment focus on micro and small businesses, implemented programs including She’s Next, Money Is Changing and Visa Everywhere Women’s Edition
• Helped unbanked individuals access electronic payments accounts — reaching 396 million toward a goal of 500 million by 2020
• Expanded Visa University, launched a world-class online and in-person inclusion training program
• Created a Gender Inclusion Council of 20 Visa leaders to create a more inclusive working environment

Governance Achievements

• Revised Code of Business Conduct and Ethics to provide greater clarity on employee expectations and highlight requirements for safeguarding sensitive data
• Introduced the Ethical Manager Toolkit to provide managers with resources to respond to ethics issues
• Visa’s cybersecurity program received the highest rating among peer companies from Gartner Consulting

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Continued expansion of operations leading to a slight increase in energy consumption
• Growing need to address climate change risks and opportunities
• Managing risks associated with the increasing use of digital payments

Mitigation Strategies

• Improved energy intensity by 9 percent year-over-year
• Completed a formal climate risk assessment aligned with the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures
• Implemented a multi-layered security strategy to protect the digital payments system and its users

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Supplier Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Not disclosed

Transition Risks

• Not disclosed

Opportunities

• Not disclosed

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI, SASB

Certifications: LEED

Third-party Assurance: Bureau Veritas (for energy and emissions data)

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Goal 5: Gender Equality

Visa contributes most to Goal 8 and Goal 5, and secondarily contributes to at least six other SDGs.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Not disclosed

Awards & Recognition

• Dow Jones Sustainability North American Index
• FTSE4Good Index
• World’s Most Ethical Companies
• 100 Best Corporate Citizens
• JUST 100
• Silver CSR Rating
• Trendsetter, CPA-Zicklin Index
• World’s Most Admired Companies
• World’s Most Valuable Brands
• World’s Most Innovative Companies
• World’s Most Valuable Global Brands
• Best Global Brands

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Empowering People & Economies
• Securing Commerce & Protecting Customers
• Investing in Our Workforce
• Protecting the Planet
• Operating Responsibly

Environmental Achievements

• Achieved 100 percent renewable electricity transition by 2020, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from purchased electricity consumption by nearly 90 percent versus the 2014 baseline.

Social Achievements

• Reached the 2015 goal to provide 500 million previously unbanked or underserved people with access to a Visa branded payment account by 2020.
• Launched She’s Next, Empowered by Visa, a global initiative supporting women-owned small businesses.
• Launched the Visa Black Scholars and Jobs Program, a $10 million fund providing scholarships and guaranteed jobs to Black and African American students.

Governance Achievements

• Named to the World’s Most Ethical Companies list for the seventh consecutive year.
• Received the Best Compliance and Ethics Program (large cap) Award from Corporate Secretary for the second consecutive year.
• Refreshed the structure of the Board, adding the Finance Committee and welcoming a new chair to the Audit and Risk Committee.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• COVID-19 pandemic's impact on individuals, businesses, and communities.
• Calls for racial and social justice and equity.

Mitigation Strategies

• Expanded remote work opportunities, broadened benefit offerings, and committed to no layoffs related to COVID-19.
• Worked with clients to ensure business continuity.
• Visa Foundation committed $200 million to support small and micro businesses and $10 million for immediate COVID-19 relief.
• Implemented a three-pronged approach to address racial and social injustice focusing on people, community, and company.
• Established goals to increase under-represented groups in leadership and the overall workforce.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Visa Supplier Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather
• Market and merchant availability disruptions

Transition Risks

• Shift in consumer preferences towards low-carbon products and services

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards: Core option, SASB Software & IT Services Sustainability Accounting Standard

Third-party Assurance: Third-party assurance for energy and emissions data

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 1
• Goal 4
• Goal 5
• Goal 8
• Goal 10
• Goal 12
• Goal 13
• Goal 16
• Goal 17

Visa's initiatives contribute to these goals through various programs and partnerships.

Awards & Recognition

• World’s Most Ethical Companies
• Best Compliance and Ethics Program (large cap)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Empowering People, Communities & Economies
• Securing Commerce & Protecting Customers
• Investing in Our People
• Protecting the Planet
• Operating Responsibly

Environmental Achievements

• Achieved carbon neutral operations for scopes 1 and 2 and business travel and employee commuting components of scope 3 emissions.
• Maintained 100% renewable electricity use.

Social Achievements

• Digitally enabled 30.7 million SMBs worldwide.
• Reached over 3.2 million people with Visa Practical Money Skills.
• Prevented $26 billion in fraud losses.
• Launched Visa Black Scholars and Jobs program.
• Achieved equal pay among men and women for the same work globally.

Governance Achievements

• 64% Visa Board diversity for gender, race, ethnicity dimensions.
• 100% completion by eligible employees of annual compliance training.
• 10 years consecutive inclusion on World's Most Ethical Companies list.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Climate change impacts
• Supply chain disruptions
• Cybersecurity threats
• Data privacy concerns

Mitigation Strategies

• Investing in cybersecurity and fraud prevention ($9B over 5 years)
• Transitioning to 100% renewable electricity
• Implementing robust data privacy program
• Engaging with suppliers on ESG issues
• Developing AI-powered security solutions

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Visa Supplier Code of Conduct
• Partnership with EcoVadis for ESG ratings

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Opportunities

• Development of energy-efficient products and services

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards: Core option, SASB Software & IT Services Standard, TCFD, WEF Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics

Third-party Assurance: Apex Companies, LLC (Limited assurance for Scope 1, 2, and select Scope 3 GHG emissions)

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 1
• Goal 4
• Goal 5
• Goal 8
• Goal 10
• Goal 12
• Goal 13
• Goal 16
• Goal 17

Visa's initiatives contribute to these goals through financial inclusion, education, gender equality, economic growth, reduced inequality, sustainable consumption, climate action, peaceful societies, and global partnerships.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Visa Eco Benefits bundle

Awards & Recognition

• Gold Halo Award for Employee Engagement
• #15 in top 100 global learning organizations (Training magazine)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Empowering People, Communities & Economies
• Enabling Trusted Commerce & Protecting Customers
• Investing in Our People
• Protecting the Planet
• Operating Responsibly

Environmental Achievements

• 89% reduction in scopes 1 & 2 GHG emissions since FY18
• 100% renewable electricity use maintained for operations

Social Achievements

• Digitally enabled 40M+ small and micro businesses
• $15.5M in grants and over $35M in impact investments committed by Visa Foundation to support gender diverse and inclusive small businesses globally
• Equal pay among male and female employees for the same work

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• More than a billion people remain outside the formal financial system
• Geopolitical and macroeconomic environments continue to be uncertain
• Many small businesses still face challenges
• Natural disasters increase in frequency and strength

Mitigation Strategies

• Prioritizing efforts to digitally enable small businesses
• $1B investment pledged in Africa over the next five years to accelerate digital transformation
• $10B invested in technology over the last five years, including to reduce fraud and enhance network security
• Continued efforts toward being a net zero company by 2040

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Visa Supplier Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards, SASB Software & IT Services Standard, TCFD, WEF Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics

Third-party Assurance: Apex Companies, LLC (limited assurance for GHG emissions)

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 1
• 4
• 5
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 16
• 17

Visa's goals and progress are mapped to the UN SDGs

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Visa Eco Benefits Bundle
• Integration with ecolytiq and Cloverly

Awards & Recognition

• Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index
• World’s Most Ethical Companies list
• Most JUST Companies list
• Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index
• Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index