WEX Releases Second Environmental, Social and Governance Report Detailing Impact and Progress

Rhea-AI Summary

WEX (NYSE: WEX) has released its second annual ESG report, showcasing its commitment to environmental, social, and governance initiatives across 17 countries. The report focuses on four pillars: People and Culture, Environmental Innovation, Environmental Stewardship, and Social Impact. Key highlights include the establishment of diversity goals for leadership roles and the development of an extensive EV charging network. WEX also emphasizes mental health support for employees and has made significant reductions in data center energy usage, achieving a 58% decrease since 2019.

Positive

• Launched critical programs to enhance mental health support for employees.
• Set goals for gender parity and increased diversity in U.S. leadership roles by 50%.
• Expanded EV charging network to support the transition to electric vehicles.
• Achieved a 58% reduction in data center energy usage since 2019.

Negative

• None.

Report demonstrates continued commitment to building a diverse, world-class talent base, driving environmental innovation, minimizing environmental impact and enhancing the health and well-being of communities, customers and employees

PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WEX (NYSE: WEX), the global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business, today published its second annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) report. The new analysis highlights WEX’s impact across 17 countries, 29 locations and more than 5,000 employees.

The report advances WEX’s ESG efforts organized around four core pillars – People and Culture, Environmental Innovation, Environmental Stewardship and Social Impact – alongside key governance practices.

“Over the past two years, I’ve seen how WEX and the customers and partners we serve around the world adapted swiftly to changes in our economies, our businesses and our communities,” said Melissa Smith, chair and chief executive officer of WEX. “WEX has the ability to be a positive force in our world, allowing our actions to open up possibilities for others. For this reason, we’ve established strong oversight from WEX’s Board of Directors and executive leadership team focused on where our unique assets and capabilities position WEX to be a successful, responsible leader, considering all of our stakeholders, including the environment and community.”

PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST: BUILDING A MORE INCLUSIVE CULTURE

Three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the clear lessons for employers is the importance of building a culture that attracts, develops and retains talent. In reflection of this reality, WEX has expanded and launched critical programs to foster a supportive, engaged culture including:

• Benefits: There’s no question that benefits are key to attracting and retaining talent, particularly initiatives to support mental health. To that end, WEX offers dedicated well-being campaigns and personal financial counseling, flexible ways of working, on-demand virtual fitness classes and unlimited confidential assistance.
• Learning and Leadership Development: Over the past three years, WEX has been focused on ensuring all employees, regardless of level, have ample opportunities to learn and grow their skills and maximize their potential as they grow their career. For People Leaders, our Thrive as a People Leader programs and Resource Center have been implemented to ensure a consistent experience for employees through increased manager effectiveness utilizing standardized ways of leading and supporting their teams and employees.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): In early 2022, WEX’s Board of Directors approved WEX’s 2025 DEI goals to achieve gender parity in leadership roles and increase employees of color in the U.S. in leadership roles by 50 percent.

ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE & IMPACTS

Few challenges are as critical — or critically important — as the anticipated transition to a low-carbon future, which requires widespread adoption of emerging technologies and the development of new resources to track and measure progress towards that end. For WEX, that means building on a legacy of innovation to drive change internally and across its client base.

• Energy Innovation: WEX is uniquely positioned to support the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) or other forms of efficient transport. As part of our commitment to execute on our roadmap to simplify the complexities of electrification, we are working with partners to create an expanded EV charging network. We are continuing to execute on our roadmap in order to ensure we are well positioned to provide comprehensive solutions for our customers and their future mixed fleet needs.
• Internal Stewardship: Understanding the importance of responsible environmental stewardship, WEX has also worked to lessen its own carbon footprint and, to provide transparency, publicly report its Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO₂. Furthermore, WEX is currently in the process of migrating many of its internal data centers to public cloud service providers. Through 2021, WEX closed 19 data centers, leading to an estimated 58 percent reduction in data center energy usage since 2019.

SOCIAL IMPACT

WEX is deeply committed to the health and wellbeing of its customers, partners, employees and community. This dedication manifests itself in WEX’s products and services and through its community involvement. A prime example of this is WEX’s global Volunteer Time Off program that offers employees 16 hours of paid time off every year, specifically to give back to their community in a way that is meaningful to them—without having to use their vacation time.

GOVERNANCE

WEX is built on a foundation of ethics and integrity. To ensure fidelity to this foundation, the company has developed the frameworks, processes and tools necessary to uphold responsibilities to customers, shareholders, employees and communities and to support the further evolution of the company’s commitment to ESG.

To read the full report, please visit https://www.wexinc.com/about/wex-esg-report/.

About WEX

WEX (NYSE: WEX) is the global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business. WEX has created a powerful ecosystem that offers seamlessly embedded, personalized solutions for its customers around the world. Through its rich data and specialized expertise in simplifying benefits, reimagining mobility and paying and getting paid, WEX aims to make it easy for companies to overcome complexity and reach their full potential. For more information, visit www.wexinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release, and the ESG Report referred to herein, contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be forward-looking statements. When used in this report, the words “believe,” “expect,” “could,” “may,” “would,”, “trend,” “intend,” and other similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the anticipated electric vehicle transition, as well as the Company’s DEI goals, ESG targets, goals, and commitments outlined in this press release, ESG Report or elsewhere.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220725005584/en/

WEX Media

Rob Gould

robert.gould@wexinc.com

Source: WEX

FAQ

What key initiatives are highlighted in WEX's 2023 ESG report?

WEX's 2023 ESG report highlights initiatives in mental health support, diversity goals, EV charging network expansion, and significant energy reductions in data centers.

What are WEX's 2025 goals regarding diversity and inclusion?

WEX aims to achieve gender parity in leadership roles and increase employees of color in U.S. leadership roles by 50% by 2025.

How has WEX contributed to environmental leadership?

WEX has contributed to environmental leadership by reducing its data center energy usage by 58% since 2019 and expanding its EV charging network.

When was WEX's second annual ESG report published?

WEX published its second annual ESG report in 2023.

What regions does WEX's ESG report cover?

WEX's ESG report covers 17 countries and 29 locations.