GB : ESG Impact Report

Environment

Everyone

Ethics

ESG Impact Report 2024

ESG Impact Report 2024

Overview 

Environment

Everyone

Ethics

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Contents

Overview

Foreword	01
How are we building a better world?	02
FY24 highlights	04
Our ESG strategy	05
Environment	07
Everyone	15
Ethics	22

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ESG Impact Report 2024

Foreword

Overview 

Environment

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Ethics

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01

Natalie Gammon

Chair of the ESG Committee 10 June 2024

Our purpose is to build trust in a digital world. While this is our first ESG Impact Report, our products have been protecting people for over 30 years. Our solutions help good customers gain access to products and services and identify and prevent the bad. We want to be the partner of choice for businesses who want to interact with their customers safely, securely and sustainably.

This year we have pioneered new ways to develop the digital identity ecosystem. On the next page our Chief Product Officer describes how our emphasis on building differentiation is making a difference to our customers by preventing fraud, expanding access, and helping products to get to where they need to be.

We are very proud of the progress we are already making to reduce our environmental impact, with a 54% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Last year alongside the other ESG Committee members, I was proud to announce our target to be net zero by 2045 and I am delighted that we have deepened our approach this year by committing to set externally validated, science-basednear-term and net zero targets.

We have also grown the proportion of women across our global business, senior leaders, Executive Team and Board of Directors. Creating meaningful change in the diversity of our workforce across all levels has been a key focus for us and we are very happy to see advances being made.

Although we are pleased with the progress we've made, we know that there is more to consider. We will continue to innovate across our operations, products, solutions and supply chain to create change and drive progress. The launch of our ESG Strategy, 'Environment, Everyone & Ethics' last year helped us to clarify our aims and contribution to the global advancements being made. The ESG Strategy isn't an add-on, it's fundamental to our decisions and how we interact with our stakeholders.

We care deeply about what we do and the benefits that our products and solutions can have. Fostering efficiencies and improvements through our operations and driving growth and innovation through our products will be key as we continue to strive towards making the world a better and fairer place.

I am delighted that we have deepened our approach by committing to set externally validated, science-based near- term and net zero targets.

The GBG ESG Impact Report 2024 matches the reporting year of the Annual Report and Accounts.

Click here to see our Annual Report and Accounts 2024

ESG Impact Report 2024

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02

How are we building a better world?

Gus Tomlinson

Chief Product Officer 10 June 2024

We are seeing a rapid industrialisation of identity fraud with far too many individuals and businesses having to deal with the devastating impact of unscrupulous fraudsters who are exploiting any vulnerability they find. At the same time, we are witnessing a digital explosion with individuals' digital identity fast becoming the

key to unlocking access to an increasing number of goods and services, unfortunately, without it they risk being excluded.

Our capabilities help businesses build online customer relationships based on trust, while keeping the fraudsters and bad actors at bay. We help to simplify what is often a complex challenge for our customers to manage. The availability of identity data varies from country to country, and there is a risk that if identity data diversity is not properly understood, businesses can negatively discriminate against and unfairly prevent people from accessing digital services. When this comes to the finance industry, for example, this could result in genuine customers being unable to gain access to critical services such as credit access, opening a new bank account, or securing a mortgage. This issue is increasing across a wide range of services, from healthcare, to public services, to new employment.

This is why our role in helping businesses move past a binary pass-fail compliance check is crucial to building a fairer approach. You can read more about how our International Identity Index is helping businesses and governments build a tailored approach on the next page.

We don't just provide match rates; we also provide confidence scores. Through an innovative new capability launched in FY24 called GBG Score, over 350 customers are already benefitting from a more precise understanding of digital identity. GBG Score calculates the match accuracy, integrity and count achieved by a prospect taking their verification journey. This goes beyond default KYC data to include mobile, email, IP address and much more; it provides a holistic view of the diverse digital identity footprint, increasing accessibility for a broader number of safe, eligible consumers. Trust is not an immediate response, it is built by the transactions a person makes over time.

As we look to the future, I believe that we will see more consumers with a desire to seek to improve their understanding of their own digital identity. Already, there is demand from customers to explore behaviours that will improve their digital identities and prevent those that will damage it - much like how consumers leverage credit scores. Our aim is to support our customers by providing greater transparency in onboarding decisions so consumers can gain real-time feedback on their applications and therefore be empowered with the knowledge of how to improve applications in the future.

Lastly, we are proactively upskilling our customers and the wider identity community on the role we can all take in building a safer and fairer digital world. Last year we hosted an event where we were joined by the journalists, filmmakers and an unfortunate investor who all contributed to the BBC Panorama programme 'Downfall of the Crypto King' covering the fraud at FTX, which at its height, was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The event served as a clear case study of the real-world need to continually grow and enhance our defences against digital deception.

ESG Impact Report 2024

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03

Stories from our solutions:

International Identity Index

Understanding and leveraging identity data diversity is essential to building a reliable, inclusive and effective identity ecosystem.

We built our International Identity Index as a guide to the state of digital identity and the best way to verify identity around the world. It is a guide to help businesses move beyond the binary pass-fail compliance checks and to embrace a nuanced country-by-country approach.

Identity data is not universal; and narrowing data sources can unfairly discriminate, preventing people from accessing digital services. With in-depth knowledge of data diversity, businesses can accurately understand where identity data quality differs and therefore identify the need to provide access by building trust in different ways, ensuring identity inclusivity. It can also help governments and data providers to understand, invest in and increase identity inclusion around the world.

Not all identities are created equal, and we need to make sure that as we develop and implement technologies we do so with diversity in mind. Our ethical data approach, coupled with a deeper knowledge of where identity quality differs, builds trust between good customers and their suppliers, ensuring wider identity inclusivity.

Not all identities are created equal, and we need to make sure that as we develop and implement technologies we do so with diversity in mind.

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04

FY24 highlights

Highlights

Customers

Committed to setting an externally validated,	Customers
20,000+
science-based target
54%
Scope 1 and 2 reduction since FY22
Offsetting project
investment to match our FY23
operational emissions	Key
90%	regions
of team members would recommend GBG
as a great place to work
Adjusted operating profit	33%  USA
£61.2m
	Revenue by region
	30%  UK
Revenue	19%  APAC
£277.3m	6%  Rest of World
	12%  Europe

Recognition

'AA' rating in the MSCI ESG Ratings assessment

Assessed to be at 'Low Risk' of experiencing material financial impacts from ESG factors by Sustainalytics

Transition to ISO 2001: 2022

Continued our membership with the

Slave-Free Alliance

ESG Impact Report 2024

Overview 

Our ESG strategy

Our ESG Strategy - Environment, Everyone
& Ethics - reinforces our commitment to
embed a sustainable and ethical approach
in everything we do. It represents what makes
us unique and gives us the framework to	High
drive action on the most impactful and
important areas.
Last year we conducted a materiality
assessment to understand the ESG-related
topics that matter most to our stakeholders
and therefore what will have the biggest
impact on our business's future success.
We plotted the outcome, which you can	success
see to the right, and collated the qualitative
comments to provide a picture of how we
should prioritise going forward. Before being
finalised, the ESG Strategy was discussed
and finessed with both our Executive Team	futureouronImpact
and ESG Committee to ensure it was truly
reflective of our business.
	Moderate

Environment

Everyone

Ethics

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05

Data ethics, privacy and IT

security

Human capital development

Business ethics

Inclusion, diversity and

equality

Corporate governance

Potential for human rights

violations

Social and environmental benefits of our products

Climate change and

greenhouse gas emissions

Waste and resource

management

Sustainable supply chains

Team member volunteering

Moderate High

Importance to stakeholders

ESG Impact Report 2024

Our ESG strategy continued

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06

Environment

Focus

Reducing and improving our impact

on the planet.

UN SDGs supported

Goals

Reduce our Scope 1 and 2

emissions by 42% in 10 years

Achieved:

We have already managed to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 54% in comparison to our FY22 baseline.

Net zero by 2045

In progress:

While we have made excellent progress on our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, there is still much more work to do on our Scope 3 emissions.

Run two climate-related scenarios and

disclose in our FY24 Annual Report

Achieved:

Please read our climate-related

disclosures on pages 10-13, which have been informed by physical and transition scenario analysis.

Everyone

Focus

Ensuring that our team has the support and resources they need to grow their skills, build diverse teams and protect our environment and society.

UN SDGs supported

Goals

Exceed 40% female representation by 2026 (global workforce and senior leaders level)

In progress:

We have increased our female representation across our global workforce and senior leaders this year. Our senior leaders representation remains above 40%.

Continually increase participation in our voluntary diversity data collection

Achieved in FY24:

Participation in our voluntary diversity data collection increased to 51.8% this year (2023: 47.1%).

Publish an Ethnicity Report

Achieved:

We published an internal Ethnicity

Report this year.

Ethics

Focus

Having clear oversight and

responsibilities for transparent ESG

reporting and effective ESG risk

management.

UN SDGs supported

Goals

Put the ethical use of data at the heart of everything we do

In progress:

This year we have developed our approach to AI to ensure that as we grow our use we keep ethics at the heart of our decision-making.

Incorporate the role our industry plays in building a better world in our thought leadership

In progress:

We have released case studies, ran events and released this report to help build the picture of how our products build a better world.

GBG cares about its people, the environment, and the communities we're based in. As the newest member of the ESG Committee, I am focused on holding us to account against these values and the commitments we have made - demonstrating the value that our products do, and could, create across society.

Dev Dhiman

CEO

ESG Impact Report 2024

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Environment

Reducing and improving our impact on the planet

ESG Impact Report 2024

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08

Environment continued

Our net zero target

We recognise that our carbon footprint is comparatively small, but we are still committed to doing everything we can to make reductions and improvements. That's why we've committed

to set an externally validated, science-basednear-term and net zero target.

We set a net zero target last year and validation will be our next step in demonstrating our ongoing work to improve our approach. We are dedicated to being part of the global action taking place to prevent further climate change and so we want to ensure our targets are science-based, robust and deliverable.

We have already reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 54%, achieving our near-term goal earlier than targeted. We have achieved this through three main approaches. Firstly, changing our workspace energy contracts to be powered by renewable energy. Secondly, reviewing the space we need and reducing our workspaces where we can. And lastly, empowering our team with the knowledge of how they can help us reduce our emissions.

We have also been carbon neutral in our operations since FY22, which for us means working to reduce our emissions at the same time as investing in carbon reduction projects which equal our market-based Scope 1 and 2 emissions. This is no longer listed as a separate target in our Strategy as it is business as usual under the delivery of our net zero target. In FY24 we invested in a hydroelectricity project in Indonesia, helping address issues in the area such as poor electricity access and lack of employment opportunities.

We are proud to continue to support projects in regions where we have team members.

Our team also continues to help us reduce the impact of our electrical equipment by donating laptops to local charities (ensuring the necessary privacy and security wipe has taken place first).

Like many businesses who are returning to pre-pandemic travel patterns our Scope 3 emissions have increased over the past year. Going forward we will be working on initiatives that will promote a reduction in our overall emissions across our value chain.

Improving our approach: Cloud migration

This year the data held to support our Location products was migrated from our physical data centres to the cloud. Changing our approach has a range of benefits: from ensuring consistency across our products to improving the energy efficiency of our data usage.

These improvements allow us to create automatic scalability in response to customer load, improve reliability and scalability of the platform and our partners' use of renewable energy contracts. During the process we have, and continue to, pay close attention to upholding our robust approach to cyber security.

Policy and awareness

We want every member of our team to understand the impact they can make to our environment. Our Sustainability Society aims to raise awareness and drive engagement through a schedule of communications, events and projects. They are also tasked with increasing our external communications and engagement of how our products can build a better world. We are delighted to have over 40 global team members involved.

Our Environmental Policy details our approach to reducing and improving our impact on the environment. You can read it on our website here