SAN JOSE, Calif., April 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PayPal
Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) today released its third annual
Global Impact Report, publishing its environmental, social, and
governance (ESG) strategies and activities of its global operations
for 2019. The Global Impact Report highlights progress PayPal has
made to advance financial health, promote an inclusive and diverse
workforce, minimize its environmental impact, and work to ensure
that its business operates responsibly.
As the company took action to address the impact of the COVID-19
global pandemic, PayPal reaffirmed its commitment to its employees,
customers, and communities around the world. The company put
measures in place to protect the physical well-being and financial
security of its employees through remote working policies and
increased paid time off through a Crisis Leave Program. It took
steps to help its more than 24 million merchants impacted by
COVID-19, including waiving certain fees and deferring repayments
on select business loans. Additionally, PayPal supported community
relief efforts through new employee giving programs, launched
fundraising campaigns around the world through PayPal Giving Fund,
and made donations to relief efforts in highly impacted regions.
The company also worked with governments and regulatory agencies to
efficiently provide loans to small businesses through the U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program and
distribute government stimulus payments to consumers in the
U.S.
"The responsibility of corporations has moved beyond simply
delivering shareholder profits. The growing expectation from
stakeholders is that companies need to take action to effect
positive social and environmental impact. Purpose and profit are
becoming increasingly intertwined," said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal.
"Given the challenges the world is facing as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to supporting the needs of our
employees, customers, and communities and helping them navigate
this unprecedented time. Our products and services are perhaps more
critical than ever before, and our PayPal community has come
together during this crisis to take meaningful action to help the
most vulnerable in our society."
PayPal continued to make notable progress on the company's
global impact strategy and achieved key milestones. The company
completed its first comprehensive ESG materiality and
prioritization assessment to identify key non-financial topics that
are of greatest importance to the company's mission and its
stakeholders. In addition, PayPal further examined how its business
activities aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), identifying that it makes a direct, positive
contribution to 10 of the 17 goals. Notable examples include
ensuring that all men and women have equal rights to economic
resources, as well as increasing access to financial services for
small-scale industrial and other enterprises, including affordable
credit,
PayPal's 2019 Global Impact Report features information across
four key priority areas: Social Innovation, Employees &
Culture, Environmental Sustainability, and Responsible Business
Practices. Key highlights include the following:
- Social Innovation: PayPal contributes to a more
inclusive global economy by improving financial health, powering
charitable giving, and strengthening its communities. In 2019,
PayPal:
-
- Leveraged the power of its giving platform to process
$16 billion in contributions,
including well over $10 billion in
contributions to charitable causes, from more than 40 million
people around the world.
- Utilized the power of its global workforce for good with
employee giving and volunteer programs, including more than 43% of
employees participating globally in the Kiva lending campaign –
empowering ~10,000 entrepreneurs across 36 countries.
- Developed products and services to help individuals and
businesses improve their financial health, including the PayPal
Commerce Platform and PayPal's business financing solutions, as
well as investments in companies driving financial wellness.
- Employees & Culture: PayPal fosters a strong
employee-centered culture that is reinforced by its core values of
Collaboration, Inclusion, Innovation, and Wellness. During 2019,
PayPal:
-
- Made it a strategic priority to strengthen the financial health
of its employees by establishing an Employee Financial Wellness
Program. Through this program, PayPal raised wages, expanded
benefits, reduced healthcare costs, and gave every employee an
ownership stake in the company.
- Maintained 100% pay equity for women globally and ethnic pay
parity in the U.S. for the fourth year in a row, and advocated for
inclusive public policies such as signing onto amicus briefs in
support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
program.
- Continued to build a diverse and inclusive workforce through
programs such as Conscious Inclusion Training, completed by over
90% of all global employees. PayPal's total diversity in 2019 was
57% globally, and experienced a 6% year-over-year increase in
females in tech roles and 12% increase in ethnic minorities at
Director+ roles since 2015.
- Environmental Sustainability: PayPal is focused on
responsibly managing and reducing its environmental impact. Over
the past year, PayPal:
-
- Matched 65% of the energy in data centers with renewable
generation, representing significant progress toward the company's
goal of 100% by 2023.
- Made meaningful progress toward setting a Science-Based target
to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions that aligns with the Paris
Climate Agreement, and joined the United for Paris coalition to reinforce support for
meeting the goals set forth in the agreement.
- Brought together passionate employees to volunteer their time
and talent to address climate-related issues and develop
innovative, sustainable products, including the development and
launch of the iZettle Ocean Reader: the world's first card reader
made from recycled ocean plastic.
- Responsible Business Practices: PayPal's approach to
operating its business is one that is ethical and responsible,
including:
-
- Partnering with organizations to combat global financial
crimes, including Polaris to fight and disrupt human trafficking
cash flows and the Center on Crime and Community Resilience at
Northeastern University and the
University of Chicago Crime Lab to
better understand the financing mechanisms of illegal firearm
sales.
- Continuing to build a strong culture focused on customer
privacy and security, including certifying its information security
program to ISO 27001 standards.
- Continuing to evaluate it approach to privacy and identify ways
to best protect customer data through its eight privacy principles
that serve as the basis or enterprise-wide standards for
collecting, using, disclosing, storing, securing, accessing,
transferring, and processing personal data.
To view and download the 2019 report, please visit PayPal's
Global Impact website. While this report features some of PayPal's
recent programs, please visit the PayPal Newsroom for ongoing
updates, including information on the company's latest efforts to
address COVID-19.
About PayPal
PayPal has remained at the forefront of
the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By
leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more
convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is
empowering more than 300 million consumers and merchants in more
than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more
information, visit paypal.com.
Media Contacts:
Tiffany
Peng, tipeng@paypal.com
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SOURCE PayPal Holdings, Inc.