Sustainability report - iZettle Press · iZettle Sustainability Report iZettle Sustainability Report Words of Jacob De Geer Preface Content Small businesses are the backbone of the

2017

Sustainability report

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Words of Jacob De GeeriZettle Sustainability Report iZettle Sustainability Report

ContentPreface

Small businesses are the backbone of the economy. They play a key role in creating new jobs and are a breeding ground for new ideas. They make the free market economy diverse, vibrant and colourful. As we see it, sustainable social and economical development is dependent on their success.

We grow together with small businesses across the world. We make life easier for entrepreneurs by helping them get paid, sell smarter and grow.

About this report iZettle’s first sustainability report describes the sustainability work being done in the company in 2017. We follow the guidelines set out in the Annual Accounts Act.

About the company iZettle is on a mission to help small businesses succeed in a world of giants. Founded in Stockholm in 2010, we revolutionised mobile payments with the world’s first mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices. Today our commerce platform for small businesses provides tools to get paid, sell smarter and grow your business.

Our tools serve hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs in the European markets in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. In Latin America, you’ll find us in Mexico and Brazil.

Front page: Tomothy Bosworth, coffee lover and owner of Hoxton North, North Yorkshire, Great Britain

5A word from Jacob de Geer, CEO and Co-founder

6The role of small businesses in the world

8Materiality assessment

12Our contribution

13How we support small bussineses

17Prevention of money laundering

18Diversity and gender equality

19A word from the HR-manager

20Risks in the value chain

22Global goals for sustainable development

24Organisation and management

25KPIs

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iZettle Sustainability Report

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What you are holding in your hands is iZettle’s first sustainability report, where we describe what sustainability means to us, which oppor-tunities and challenges we have pinpointed, how we deal with them and what results we have achieved.

For us, sustainability is about contributing to sustainable economic development by helping small businesses to work smarter and grow. Goal 8 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals is to ‘promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all’. One of the targets of this goal is to achieve higher levels of economic productivity based on diversification, technological upgrading and innovation. This is in line with our mission to help small businesses succeed in a world of giants by using innovative, digital tools.

Even though small businesses play an important role today in global and local economies, millions of these businesses are underserved and still do not have access to affordable business tools. Focusing on this forgotten segment is the key to our success. Because we’ve realised something: when they grow, so do we.

The goal of our sustainability work is not just to make the most of our products and services, but also to reduce our negative impact. This will be an important focus area for us in the future.

This report is an important first step for us – but it is just that: a first step.

Happy reading!

Jacob de GeerCEO and Co-founder. iZettle

iZettle Sustainability Report 2017

“iZettle's mission correlates well with the UN global

sustainable development goal 8 – to help small

business owners succeed and pursue sustainable

economic growth through innovative digital tools”

Jacob de Geer CEO and Co-founder

iZettle

Small businesses help us grow

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Big corporations still, to a large extent, dominate the global economy. The really large companies are becoming even larger. How ever, even though they are growing and claiming a bigger slice of the market, they are hiring fewer people. Automation and digital-isation are re-defining the job market. Fore-casts estimate that nearly half of all jobs will disappear in the next 20 years.1

Jobs of the future will probably be found in businesses characterised by complex tasks with a high degree of creativity, and in industries where robots will never be able to perform those services that require human and physical contact.

It is also likely that employment will be different in the near future. We can already see how permanent jobs are becoming increasingly atypical. People are drawn, more or less on a voluntary basis, to entrepreneurship: to the gig economy where employees regularly switch contracts and projects, and invoice their work as independent contractors.

This trend already means that the companies who really are contributing to the employment market are the small ones. Currently, small businesses provide 25 percent of jobs in the EU, and they make up 90 percent of all businesses globally2. In a world where small businesses are becoming more important, their voices and needs should be heard.

We started out by revolutionising mobile payments, with the world’s first mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices. Dealing with cash carries its own risks, from store and bank heists to armoured vehicle robberies. The entire world of trade believes that card payments are more secure

for both customers and business owners. Traditional card payment services can be expensive and complicated solutions for the small business owner, which is why cash payments have been their only solution.

Apart from security risks, there are other disadvantages to cash payments – for example, the risk of losing customers. Studies show that small businesses lose approximately 25 percent of their customers because they do not take card payments3. For a small business owner with limited daily earnings, the loss of a couple of customers can mean the difference between being in the black or not.

It did not take long before we found that small businesses needed help with a lot more than just card payments, so we expanded our offer to include all kinds of payments: card, cash, invoices, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and alternative forms of payment like Swish, Vipps and MobilePay. We also started to offer services such as cash registers, point-of-sale, sales analysis, and business loans. These business tools save time and boost stability and growth for the individual business owner, who is often the CEO, HR Manager, Controller, and sales manager all rolled into one.

The role of small businesses in the world

1 https://strategiska.se/app/uploads/varannat-jobb-automatiseras.pdf2 European commission Annual report on European SMBs 2015/2016

3 VISA Europe Research (Covering cardholders in UK, IT, ES, DE, PL), 2015

“Small businesses are the ones that really contribute to the employment market.”

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In 2017, we carried out a materiality assess-ment to identify the opportunities and risks in our business. We then defined the issues we wanted to include and prioritise in our sustain ability work and in this report.

We discovered that our indirect financial impact – our contribution to the benefit and growth of individuals, businesses and societies – was our most important sustainability issue. This issue is directly connected to our business concept and we can see that we have the chance to contribute to reducing poverty and financial vulnerability in several of the countries in which we operate. You can read more about our work in these areas on page 12.

Other important sustainability areas where we can do good are the prevention of money laundering and social issues like diversity and gender equality. Our services contribute to the reduction of money laundering and the illegal economy. We also have

a positive influence on diversity and equality both in our own company and through our support of small business owners. Read more about our work in these areas on pages 17 – 18.

The risks we have identified when it comes to environmental and social issues can be found primarily in our supply chain. The production of our hardware starts with the extraction of metals and oil to plastic, and continues with component manufacturing and assembly at our suppliers. There are risks in terms of environmental impact, inadequate working conditions and human rights violations in the whole supply chain. We have a good relationship with our closest suppliers and we ensure that they have policies in place for economic, social and environmentally sustainable development. However, we have less insight into the way businesses are run further down the supply chain, and this is something we are working actively to remedy. Read more about our purchasing and suppliers on page 20.

Materiality assessment

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Assessment of material sustainability issues(Results from iZettle´s assessment before the workshop)

Fair marketing

Child- and compulsory labour

Human rights assessment

Supplier assessment

Non-discrimination

Diversity and equality

Anti-corruption and business ethics

Indirect economic impacts

Health and safety

Freedom of association and collective bargaining

Employment

Training and education

MaterialEmissions

Energy WasteWater

Significance to iZettle

Economy & business ethics

Environmental issues

Social issues

Human rights

Product responsibility

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Simon MottThe Big Issue vendorLondon, United Kingdom

“No one expects to end up homeless, to have nothing; to lose everything,” says Simon Mott, magazine vendor and business owner in London.

Simon worked as a tube driver in London for almost 20 years, but after a work accident, he lost his job and his apartment. For a while he slept on night buses and every day was a struggle for survival. One day, Simon met a man who suggested he should start selling The Big Issue. This piece of advice turned his life around.

“When I started selling The Big Issue, I only earned enough to live hand to mouth, even though I liked my new job. It gave me back some pride,” he says.

He sold the magazine outside the South Kensington tube station for three years. The Big Issue Foundation gives the homeless, near homeless or otherwise marginalised people, the chance to buy the magazine for £1.25 per copy and then sell it for £2.50. Half of the money goes directly to the sellers, allowing them the chance to get back on their feet again.

As time passed, Simon noticed that fewer and fewer people had cash on them and sales dropped. So, he contacted iZettle about using their easy, mobile card reader and his sales increased.

“Selling the magazine was just the start. I liked selling and I was good at it,” Simon Mott says. He goes on to describe how he has started up a new business on the side.

After finding accommodation and sorting out the rest of his life, he started an eBay shop in 2013. He buys surplus stock of children’s clothing from large retailers and stores and then sells them online. Thanks to his store, clothes that would otherwise be thrown out get a new lease of life.

“It’s good business for me – and for my customers, who otherwise would have paid more for their clothes in the stores. But, above all, it’s good for the environment: my business saves resources when clothes are re-used instead of being thrown away,” he claims.

The socialentrepeneur

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Did you know?The Big Issue is just one of many nonprofit organisations that iZettle has supported over the years. Since the start we have worked with organisations such as UNHCR, MSF, Save the Children, Red Cross, Situation Stockholm and War on Cancer to help them raise money. For example, in 2017, The Nicest Job in Britain integrated one of our card readers into a car so that passers-by could donate money merely by touching their debit cards against the windshield.

“It gave me back some pride”Simon Mott

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Our products and services level the playing field for small businesses. By using our tools, they can run their businesses effectively and profitably. For many small business owners, our products play a crucial role in ensuring that they have a job and the chance to support themselves.

We are active in many global markets, including countries where the banking system does not reach all citizens and businesses. In countries like these, for example – Mexico, we are driving change by making it possible for our users to join a banking system. This has many positive effects, and is an example of how we can impact the economy indirectly through our services.

But we do more than this. We also take part in minimising money laundering and the amount of illegal money in circulation. This is a relevant issue in all countries and in all sectors, but some are more at risk than others. We can see how corruption, tax evasion and other economic crimes lead to unfair competition and are a threat to free enterprise.

The key success factors for businesses, whether large or small, are skills and commitment. This applies to our users and our own company. Skills come in many forms and from different parts of society, which is why we focus on making it easier for immigrant labour and women to break into the growing tech industry.

We do this because we ourselves need new talent and it’s a solution to one of the challenges in our society – the shortage of skilled labour. By contributing to this issue, we create benefits for businesses and individuals.

iZettle’s sustainability contribution

How we support small businesses

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“We help small businesses succeed in a world of giants.”

Small businesses around the world account for the majority of businesses – and yet, many of them still do not have access to tools and systems that facilitate and boost business. These small businesses are not seen as profitable investments; banks and financial institutions treat them unfairly, meaning that they miss out on the opportunities afforded to larger companies.

We want to play a role in changing this. We started off by launching the world’s first chip card reader and app for mobile card payments, making it possible for small businesses to accept card payments quickly and easily. Today, we help hundreds of thousands of small business owners around the globe with a range of services like cash registers, card payments, sales reports, CRM tools, invoicing, point of sale system and financing.

All our products and services are based on the data we have about the needs, challenges, opportunities and situations of small companies. Our financing service, iZettle Advance, is a good example of this. Traditionally, it has been a challenge for small business owners to get the funding they need in order to grow. We have access to the sales history of small business owners – and based on this information, we can predict future sales. Armed with this knowledge, we can offer small businesses an advance on future payments. Repayment is tied to sales and occurs automatically. When business is booming, users pay back more; when business is slower, they repay less.

In markets like Brazil and Mexico, our mission is still about financial inclusion to a large extent. This plays a crucial part in eradicating poverty. There are still two billion people in the world with no access to basic financial services like bank accounts and debit cards: services that make daily life and running a business easier. Lack of access to financial services can, for example, result in extra costs for handling checks and overpriced loans via loan sharks. This also reduces the possibility of handling online purchases and sales, and

makes administration and invoicing more time-consuming.

Mexico In Mexico, we collaborate with the card payment network in order to drive financial inclusion. Together with Mastercard, we have launched our own card service aimed at small business owners without bank accounts.

Mexico has 127 million inhabitants, 70 million of which have no bank accounts4. By becoming an iZettle customer, you get access to an online bank account without having to go to a physical bank. We can then make payments to the account and the customer can use the card at ATMs and in stores. This is a way for Mexico’s many small business owners to join a banking system.

There are more than 180 million charge cards in Mexico, but only nine retailers per thousand inhabitants accept card payments. Before we launched our business in Mexico, the figures were even lower: six retailers per thousand residents accepted cards. Thanks to our services, more business owners can accept card payments, making it easier for consumers and increasing sales for businesses.

We play an important role in the country. By strengthening small businesses and getting more people and businesses to take advantage of the benefits of digital financial services, we see how we can help fight poverty while contributing to a reduction in the illegal economy.

55%of Mexicans don’t

have a bank account.


4 www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/06/23/mexico-to-accelerate-path-to-financial-inclusion

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BrazilUnemployment in Brazil is high. More than 13 million people of working age – that is just over 12% - were out of work at the end of 20175. For many of these people, running a business is the only way to get an income. At the same time, millions are still excluded from the financial system, which makes life difficult for the country’s small businesses.

Due to their size, banks are not interested in these businesses; they are not perceived as profitable investments and they do not have access to financial tools better suited to their needs and problems. In addition, the Brazilian bank system is one that demands a deposit from businesses, charges high fees and keeps back card payments up to a month. This makes it difficult for small businesses with lean daily takings and limited resources. However, these companies can start taking card payments with iZettle’s solutions. They can increase sales, grow, and have the chance to get themselves and their families out of poverty.

Small businesses iZettle Sustainability Report 2017

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12%of the able-bodied citizens of Brazil was unemployed by the end of 2017

“Small businesses have not been seen as a profitable

investment by banks and financial institutions, and

have therefore been treated relatively parsiminous,

causing them to lose opportunities in favour

of larger companies.”

Kleber Lima, personal chauffeur and iZettle user, São Paulo, Brazil

Jacob de Geer CEO and Co-founder

iZettle

5 https://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-economy-employment/update-1-brazils-jobless-rate-hits-new-high-nearly-13-million-unemployed-idUSL1N1G90LE

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“ iZettle has really made a difference for me – and for my employees.”

Leonardo MercadoCafé ParabiénSan Angel, Mexico

Leonardo Mercado opened his first café 11 years ago in San Angel.

“I found a suitable location outside ITAM University. It felt like a good spot, as students often go to cafés to study and hang out. I thought I would attract a lot of customers,” Leonardo Mercado explains.

Like most other small business owners in Mexico, he could only accept cash payments to start with. It was too expensive and too complicated to join a card company or bank offering card payment solutions. At the same time, he noticed that many students, especially those from abroad, wanted to pay by card.“I realised early on that I would probably lose customers if I didn’t start taking cards. I wanted to grow, so I started looking into the different alternatives,” he continues.

In 2013, Leonardo Mercado discovered iZettle. He liked the simple and inexpensive solution. Since then, he has gone from managing a café on his own to opening one more and hiring more staff.

“iZettle has really made a difference for me – and for my employees. I’ve been able to grow my company and take on staff. And they now have a permanent income. I don’t think my company would have flourished if it hadn’t been for the opportunities iZettle has given me,” Leonardo concludes.

Small businesses

Prevention of money laundering

Money laundering is a serious problem and is worth huge sums of money per year on a global basis6. The UN estimates that money laundering accounts for the equivalent of nearly five percent of the global GDP7. Money laundering is the world’s third largest industry after oil production and agriculture.

It is almost always the seriously criminal who launder money: the profits from these crimes often mean human suffering in the form of, for example, trafficking, fraud, smuggling, cybercrimes and the drug trade.

Like other financial institutions, we comply with the measures set out by the Financial Supervisory Authority, and we collaborate with other authorities to detect suspected cases of fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing8. We do this through manual reporting to the relevant authorities as well as via a sophisticated, automated system, which, with the help of machine learning, can pinpoint suspicious cases that might otherwise be hard to detect.

Our services make the economy of businesses more transparent. This, in turn, makes money laundering and other economic crimes, like tax evasion and corruption, more difficult.

The World Bank has identified corruption as one of the main obstacles to economic and social development. Those who are affected most by corruption are always society’s most vulnerable and poorest members: individuals and small businesses. A result of corruption is an increase in costs, which makes it even more difficult to get out of the poverty trap.

iZettle takes part in making sure the rules are followed and in safeguarding the free market, making it harder for economic crime to take place.

This is part of our efforts to lower the threshold for small businesses.

Our efforts against money laundering are based on our Anti-Money Laundering Policy. Our Ethics and Sustainability Policy regulates our standards for business ethics and is applicable to all iZettle employees. We also have a whistle blowing function for employees, allowing them to report suspected violations against these policies and other internal regulations anonymously.

We have an employee who is responsible for customer complaints, and these complaints are dealt with according to the rules set out in our Complaints Instruction, which follows the advice of the Financial Supervisory Authority when it comes to managing customer complaints. Our users can send in complaints or report irregularities via a special e-mail feature.

In order to raise awareness among our employees and promote reporting, we carried out training courses in 2017 covering business ethics, risk assessment and law for new employees at our Head Office, and for employees at all our satellite offices. We intend to develop our training further and all employees will have to repeat the courses at least every other year.

“ iZettle’s services facili tate transparency in corporate finances and make financial crimes difficult.”

6 http://www.fi.se/contentassets/e2ba1e2774124ddd8a8b9b88c869a59d/nationell_penningtv.pdf7 https://letstalkpayments.com/the-impact-and-threat-of-money-laundering/8 http://www.fi.se/sv/bank/penningtvatt/

Greetings from Mexico

Leonardo Mercado

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“A company that promotes diversity and gender equality is a successful one.”

Diversity and gender equality

A word from ourHR Manager

A company that promotes diversity and gender equality is a successful one. It fos-ters not only innovation and creativity, but also creates a good work environment and a dynamic and inclusive culture. In today’s competitive market, it is an important part of being an attractive employer.

Diverse work groups are more productive and healthier. Research shows that companies with more women in leadership positions perform better financially and grow faster 9. Companies with employees of different backgrounds, gender and age often have a better understanding of the consumers and the world outside the company. In our case, it is all about making a connection with our users, with women and men of different ages and backgrounds. Currently, we have employees from 45 different countries.

We focus actively on making iZettle an equal and diverse organisation. This work starts off already in how we market ourselves as an employer and organisation, and how we then go on to work on our talent acquisition. To achieve a balanced work group, we strive to make sure that at least half of the applicants for our vacant posts are women. In order to avoid bias in interviews, we also do our best to ensure that at least one female recruiter is present.

At the moment, we have more men than women (63% men and 37% women) among our employees, and we are well aware of this imbalance. The proportion of women in our management team

and on the board is somewhat lower, but in the past year, we have recruited three women to join the management team and appointed another female board member. If you look at our industry as a whole, then you can see that 72 percent of those who work in the IT and telecommunications industry are men 10. Such a male-dominated field has its own challenges and we are working proactively and in a structured manner to improve the proportion of men and women. For example, we have supported initiatives to bring more women into the technology industry for a long time. One example of such an initiative is Tjejer Kodar (Girls Code) that was created to meet the need for more female developers.

Our Equality Policy sets out how we work to promote equal opportunities regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, belief and age. All our employees get information about our policy and we expect them to follow its guidelines and principles. We work on a continuous basis to prevent discrimination and harassment. Every report of a violation is taken seriously, and is investigated and dealt with anonymously.

10 http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/it-telekomforetagen/pressreleases/andelen-maen-i-it-branschen-konstant-men-svagt-nedaat-paa-chefs-och-vd-nivaa-1845279

9 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/ our-insights/why-diversity-matters

According to the European Commission, in less than four years, there will be a shortage of one million developers in Europe 11. In Sweden, the shortage of tech talent is due to reach 60,000 by 2020, according to the organisation Swedish IT & Telecom Industries12.

Together with several other Swedish tech companies, we are pushing for easier labour migration regulations. It is a question of survival for our industry and for us.

“The lack of skilled personnel restricts our growth while the complex regulations about foreign labour stop people from working. This is one of the most important issues for those of us recruiting programmers right now,” says Anne-Marie Andric, Global HR Manager at iZettle.

During 2017, a series of cases got media attention because the foreign workers were expelled due to small mistakes on the part of the employer. Not only is it a personal tragedy for the people who were expelled, but also a serious obstacle for all organisations whose business is dependent on an influx of foreign labour.

11 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/coding-21st-century-skill12 https://computersweden.idg.se/2.2683/1.618256/60-000-it-proffs-

saknas-om-fem-ar--ansvariga-politiker-maste-fanga-upp-det-har13 http://www.breakit.se/artikel/5472/efter-fallet-tayyab-shabab-nu-ar-

reglerna-pa-vag-att-andras

“We have pinpointed several obstacles in the current system, and we are trying to influence decision makers and the Swedish Migration Board when it comes to these issues,” Anne-Marie Andric explains.

She says that administration takes a long time and the application process is often seen as unpredictable. If a supplement to an application is necessary, then the process can drag on for several months. It also takes a long time to receive a Swedish personal identity number, which in turn creates problems when it comes to wages, allowances, bank accounts and insurance. The interpretation of the law is unreasonably narrow, inflexible and small mistakes can lead to expulsion. In the long run, Sweden can become less attractive, resulting in programmers and technicians looking for employment in other countries.

“This issue is greater than just a few cases,” Anne-Marie Andric says. “But thanks to our own involvement and that of other companies, we have begun to see results. Politicians from all parties are demanding that the rules, as well as the need for possible legislative changes, are reviewed 13. It’s amazing to see that the issue has come so far and is to be reviewed,” she adds.


Anne-Marie Andric, Global HR Manager

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Words of Jacob De Geer iZettle Sustainability Report

The manufacturing of the components, which often takes place in Asian countries, also carries risks concerning human rights and working conditions. Production is dogged with problems like low wages, long working hours, lack of health and safety measures, no union rights and widespread discrimination. The risks are greater the further down in the supply chain you go, as it is often more difficult to control.

As more shortcomings come to light, more companies are placing greater demands on their suppliers, and there are industry initiatives, guidelines and legislations with the aim of improving the situation. Even though awareness is higher, there is still a lot to be done.

E-wasteThe growing consumption of electronic products has resulted in an increase of e-waste. Up to 50 million tons of electronic waste is generated every year. This waste often contains hazardous substances that can harm health and pollute the environment if not taken care of in the right way.

It is estimated that 25-40 percent of all electrical and electronic products are collected for recycling in the EU. It is unclear what happens to the other 60-75 percent. Some of this waste is exported to developing countries in, for example, Asia and Africa, despite the fact that the EU forbids the export of e-waste to developing countries. These countries often do not have a well-functioning system to deal with the waste and this leads to severe environmental problems.

Our own business creates e-waste, partly by us and partly by our users, which is why we emphasise the importance of recycling products.

When it comes to our own electronic waste, we work according to the waste hierarchy: reduce the amount of waste, reuse, recycle (energy recovery, landfill). The last two steps are not applicable to us. We strive to buy sustainable electronic products, use all of our products for as long as we can, and repair them when possible.

We try to sell used products so that they can be reused. If this is not possible, we leave them to be recycled once all the information has been erased.

Risks in the value chain

In our materiality assessment, we identified risks related to the environment and human rights issues in our value chain. The most significant risks can be found in the production of hardware. Producing electronics is comp-li cated, and the chain from raw material to finished product extends around the world. The manufacturing process impacts people and the environment through the extraction and use of metals and chemicals.

We are aware of the risks and have started to intensify our work to structure how to manage them. As a start, we have begun a process to chart our supply chain in terms of geography and production. Based on this, we will perform a risk analysis to identify the suppliers and steps in the chain where we need more knowledge, and then work to reduce the risks.

We impose sustainability requirements on our suppliers via our Ethics and Sustainability Policy. We visit existing and potential business partners to ensure that they provide good working conditions, live up to our requirements and meet the security demands of the card payment network. So far, we have only carried out visits and controls on our nearest business partners.

We do not allow sub-contractors to be hired without written permission in advance from iZettle. However, apart from the usual bidding process, due diligence and liability clauses in our contracts, we have not

yet had any other contact with sub-contractors and players further down the value chain.

Up until now, we have not had any serious deviations by our suppliers. If a violation does occur, we initiate an improvement plan. If the supplier cannot or will not carry out the necessary improvements, we can terminate our contract as a last resort.

Risks in the electronic industryRisks in the electronics industry linked to the environment and human rights started to get noticed in the early 2000s. At first, it was the situation in factories in China that got attention, but soon interest also turned to everything from the extraction of raw materials to the products themselves.

The manufacturing of electronics requires a large number of different metals, including tin, tungsten, tantalum/coltan, cobalt, copper, gold, beryllium and platinum. Extraction of the metals occurs mainly in African countries, with minimal control and high risks affecting the environment and human rights’ violations. A result of the widespread poverty and conflicts in these countries is child- and forced labour in the mines.

In order to make room for the mines, forests and nature sites are cut down, and the emissions of heavy metals and other pollutants find their way into watercourses and agricultural land.

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“Although awareness has been raised, much remains to be done”

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Linda Hansson & Louise HemmingThe Vintage FactoryStockholm, Sweden

Vintagefabriken (The Vintage Factory) sells vintage clothes, and unique and small-scale interior design products, hand-picked by Linda Hansson and Louise Hemming, who run the shop in a Stockholm suburb.

“We choose what we sell with great care for the product, the producer and the world around us in mind. We sell food, decor, toys and other items, and clothes with a focus on vintage, organic and slow living. Consumption that is simply a little kinder to the environment,” they say.

Linda Hansson and Louise Hemming are freelance food and interior designers. To pay for their office rent and other expenses, they started selling old things they found in their attic and basement storage areas. They used their blogs to advertise their merchandise, and because they already had a large readership, their followers quickly discovered their store and the business took off from there.

“We had no idea how much we would sell to start with, so we chose iZettle as we didn’t want to be

stuck with high fixed costs. It was really easy to set up, organise and take care of, so we are over the moon,” they continue.

As they focus on the environment and sustainability in their business, they appreciate the paper-free alternative from iZettle. They do not have to print out receipts as everything is dealt with electronically.

“iZettle has really made running our business a lot easier. We can spend time on developing our business instead of on administration. To put it simply, we can do what we are passionate about,” Linda Hansson and Louise Hemming go on to say.

After using iZettle’s mobile payment solution and checkout system for a while, they were asked if they would like to use iZettle Advance, which is a small business advance based on future sales.

“Thanks to iZettle Advance, we could increase our range before the Christmas rush by buying in larger volumes. It worked smoothly and we liked paying off the loan based on our own sales,” they say.

Words of Jacob De Geer iZettle Sustainability Report

When the world agreed on the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it was stated that these goals could only be achieved if all parts of society took responsibility. Unlike the previous goals – the Millennium Development Goals – these new goals have managed to motivate many countries, businesses and organisations.

Just like many other global players, we have evaluated our business to see which goals are most relevant for us and how we can contribute. All goals are crucial to the development of our world in coming years. Below we highlight the goals we believe we can make a contri bution to, including goals where we risk having a negative impact.

Global goals for sustainable development

Gender Equality. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

This goal is relevant for everyone, no matter which business you are in. Half of the world’s population is made up of girls and women, so it should be obvious that this half has the same rights to an independent life, livelihood and education.

Decent work and economic growth.Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.

This goal is connected to our mission, to the very core of our business. It is also relevant to the challenges we are facing in our value chain and the production of our hardware.

Industry, innovation and infrastructure.Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

The focus of this goal is on access to infrastructure and enabling economic growth and development in companies. So, it is directly linked to our product offer and business.

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Responsible consumption and production.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Our business solutions relate to electronic products, the production of which is facing major challenges when it comes to the environment and human rights. The entire chain, from the extraction of minerals and crude oil to the manufacturing and assembly of components, is at risk of child labour, negative environmental impact, difficult working conditions and human rights’ violations. We need to investigate the value chain more carefully to ensure good working conditions, and thus contribute to this goal.

Peace, justice and strong institutions. Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

This goal promotes peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

This goal also includes objectives about anti-corruption and transparent institutions. One of our contributions to society is that our solutions help reduce money laundering and tax evasion.

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Green consumption

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iZettle Sustainability Report

iZettle’s board is responsible for the compa-ny’s sustainability report as well as for envi-ronmental, social and financial responsibility and value creation. Operations are run and managed by the Sustainability Management Team. The group reports directly to the CEO and senior management, who have the overall responsibility for operational sustainability, including the implementation of strategies and policies.

In practical terms, sustainability issues are integrated in the daily work of production facilities, offices and support functions. All the members of the Sustainability Management Team are responsible for working closely with the relevant people both inside and outside the company in order to make sure that skilled experts and employees are included in our sustainability efforts.

The aim is to maximise the business benefits of sustainability work, reduce the negative impact of iZettle’s business, and minimise sustainability-related risks.

Our sustainability work is governed by our internal rules in the areas of environment, ethics/accountability and HR issues. We distribute our policies to all of our employees and, where applicable, to our business partners.

The following internal rules regulate our sustainability work:

Ethics and Sustainability PolicySets out iZettle’s principles concerning ethics and sustainability.

IT Policy Regulates how our IT organisation contributes to sustainable development through the IT products we buy and use.

Equality PolicyGoverns our principles and work to ensure equal opportunities and rights for all staff, and also cov-ers how complaints should be handled.

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) PolicyGoverns how iZettle works to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Instruction for Procurement and Contract Management Sets out the demands iZettle puts on external partners, in (among other things) ethics and sustainability as well as in which situations and in which form (e.g. contractual obligations) these should be imposed on external parties and followed up by iZettle.

We collaborate with authorities to detect suspected cases of fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. We do this through manual reporting to the authorities as well as via an automated system, which, with the help of machine learning, can pinpoint suspicious cases of illegal activity that might otherwise be hard to detect.

In addition to the legal requirements imposed on us, we also have strict rules about how our services can be used. For example, we do not allow our services to be used to pay for pornography or sexual services, to buy tobacco or prescription drugs over the Internet, or for the purchase of narcotics, weapons and games.

You can find a more detailed description of our requirements and rules at: www.iZettle.com/terms

Organisationand management

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KPIs

ELECTRICITYWe strive to buy renewable energy as much as possible and pride ourselves on the fact that 95% of our electric-ity today is renewable. We have calculated our carbon footprint from electricity use to 11.5 tonnes CO2e, of which 60 percent comes from fossil fuel.

EMPLOYEESToday, there are more men than women in our workforce, and we are well aware of this imbalance. Looking at our industry as whole though, roughly 72 percent are men. Such a male-dominated industry has its own challenges and we are working proactively and in a structured manner to improve the proportion of men and women. Our sick leave is around one percent of the total of working days, which we are very proud of.

95% renewable energy (solar-, wind-, hydro power)

5% Fossil fuel (coal, gas, nuclear)

66% Men

34% Women

375 748Consumption 2017

KWH

11,5Carbon footprint 2017

tonnes CO2e

95%

5%

495

1 148

76

45employees by end of December 2017

New employees 2017

Sick days 2017 nationalities among our employees


66%34%

200

3 453 385

1 678

IT EQUIPMENTWe strive to buy sustainable electronic products, use all of them for as long as we can, repair them whenever possible or sell them for reuse. If that is not possible, we recycle them.

We calculated the carbon footprint from our purchases of computers, screens and mobile phones at all our offices in 2017. The calculation is based on data on emissions from production and transport but not from use and waste. Our carbon footprint from these products was 200 tonnes CO2e.

BUSINESS TRAVEL BY AIRThe emission of greenhouse gases from our air travel is higher than the level we aim for. The carbon footprint covers all business travel by air for our employees in 2017. Most of the travelling was between our offices in Stockholm, Edinburgh, London, Mexico City and Sao Paulo.

We have not included other forms of business travel and transport of our hardware in these calculations since they make up a very small share of our carbon footprint. These calcula-tions do include the RFI-factor and thereby follows the recommendations from the GHG-protocol.

tonnes CO2e

Carbon footprint 2017

flight kilometers 2017

tonnes CO2e

Carbon footprint 2017

197 pcs 649 pcs 215 pcs 53 pcs 190 pcs 1 884 pcs Total: 3 188

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Computers

Computer accessories

Screens

IT equipment to conference rooms

Mobile phones

Others (cables, adapters etc)


Purchased IT products 2017

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Words of Jacob De Geer

iZettle AB, Regeringsgatan 59, 111 56 Stockholmizettle.com

Documents

Sustainability report - iZettle Press · iZettle Sustainability Report iZettle Sustainability Report Words of Jacob De Geer Preface Content Small businesses are the backbone of the