SBI Cards boosts ESG score, cuts emissions despite rising complaints

SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited's ESG score improved to 79.7 for FY 2024-25, up from 78.3 in FY 2023-24, a +1.4 year-on-year improvement. This score was assigned by SES ESG Research Private Limited, a SEBI Registered ESG Rating Provider, based on data up to August 26, 2025. The company achieved a 52% reduction in Scope 2 emissions, surpassing its original target of 50% by FY 2026-27 (baseline FY 2018-19). Furthermore, total energy intensity, emission intensity, and total waste intensity per FTE decreased in FY 2024-25 compared to FY 2023-24, with renewable energy consumption increasing from 0% in FY 2023-24 to 2.61% in FY 2024-25.

In social and governance aspects, the percentage of employees provided with human rights training significantly increased in FY 2024-25. The company reported zero cases of data breach and no qualifications, reservations, adverse remarks, or disclaimers from statutory auditors in FY 2024-25. Total waste recovered through recycling, re-use, and other recovery operations reached 85.8% in FY 2024-25. While absolute Scope 3 emissions increased, the emission intensity linked to FTE decreased. However, SBI Cards received over 1 lakh consumer complaints in each of the past three fiscal years.