Worldline [Euronext: WLN], the European market leader in payment and transaction services, is proud to announce that it has been recognised by a Prime Status and a B- rating from the independent non-financial rating agency ISS ESG. This announcement demonstrates improvement of its Environment Social & Governance (ESG) performance from a C+ to a B- rating in 1 year. �The rating means Worldline ranks within the first decile rank of the 407 companies assessed in the Software and IT services industry, thus joining the very prestigious circle of the sector leaders in sustainability.

The ranking confirms Worldline’s leadership in progressing its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rating on the ISS assessment. The progress is primarily reflected in the areas of Data Protection and Information security, Energy Management of Data centres, and Employment security and Employee wellbeing - where the company obtained a solid performance level, above the average score of the sector. These results demonstrate Worldline’s commitment to excellence in sustainability and the ability of the company to progress year after year as part of its CSR TRUST 2020 program.

As part of its CSR Business challenge, Worldline committed to ensure the highest standards of security and data protection of its services as a major player in the payments and digital industries. In 2019, 99.64% of incident responses were compliant with Worldline’s security policy and 99% of Compliance Assessment of Data Processing (CADP) has been performed for all processing activities. Worldline has also reinforced awareness among its employees, which resulted in 91% employees trained on Data Protection and Security related topics.

As part of its CSR Environment challenge, Worldline committed to leverage the eco-efficiency of all its activities, including Data centres, offices, travel and Payment Terminals Lifecycle. Since 2018, Worldline has been proud to announce it is the first carbon neutral company in the payments industry.

In relation to Data Centres Management, Worldline has, for a number of years, been engaged in an ambitious Energy Saving plan for its data centres through the implementation of innovative technologies to preserve the environment. These numerous and varied measures including virtualization, use of energy-efficient hardware and other technical optimization measures, make it possible to continue improving the average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of the five Worldline strategic data centres from a current average of 1.67 in 2019, to an objective of 1.60 to be achieved in 2022. These initiatives are aligned with the Science Based Target (SBT).�

As part of its CSR People Challenge, Worldline is committed to act as a responsible employer by ensuring its employees’ development, wellbeing and inclusion. In 2019, Worldline was recognized as a Good Place to work in by 5 media and certifications. This year, Worldline Poland, Argentina and France have been certified by the Great Place To Work Institute. At the same time, Worldline has increased the overall satisfaction of its employees up to 63%, an increase of 13 points compared with 2015.

Worldline will continue its efforts to deploy concrete actions throughout its operations and value chain in order to improve its CSR performance and thus confirm its long-term commitment to sustainable development.�

S�bastien Mandron, Corporate Social Responsibility Officer of Worldline, said:

"“We are very proud and delighted to have further improved our ESG rating and are now among the highest performing companies assessed. It is also further evidence of our real commitment to becoming a leader in the field of sustainability and continuing our positive work in CSR performance.� At Worldline, responsibility and sustainability are integral parts of our daily operations. To see our performance and rating improve and recognized is testament to the hard work and dedication of a great team of people with a shared vision to make a real difference.� We are also honoured to be part of a prestigious group of international leaders of the Software and IT services companies that are driving the charge to make our industry as sustainable as possible.”

For more information about Worldline’s CSR strategy and commitment, please read our 2018 Integrated Report: https://reports.worldline.com/content/dam/worldline/documents/reports2018/integrated-report-2018.pdf