PayPal Holdings, Inc. sustainability score: 49/100
Better than 82% of Financial Services / Banking
Leading practice starts at 60. The highest score on SINK is 71.
PayPal Holdings is a digital payments and financial services company headquartered in San Jose. Founded in 1998 (merged with X.com in 2000), it operates a global payment platform processing transactions across billions of merchants and consumers.
More about PayPal Holdings, Inc.
It is asset-light, software-driven, and competes with Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and regional processors.
Founded 2015Head office San Jose, United StatesStaff ~27,200Revenue ~$31.8B (FY2024)Website ↗
PayPal has delivered real operational emissions cuts—79% reduction since 2019—and maintains 100% renewable energy for data centres. But it processes payments across all merchant categories including fossil fuels without restriction, scoring weak on supply chain transparency and lacking any phase-out commitments. The structural enablement of high-carbon commerce, combined with unverified supplier climate targets, undercuts otherwise solid climate operations work.
PayPal Holdings, Inc. scores 49/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified May 2026.
That places PayPal Holdings, Inc. joint 179th of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 9th of 61 in Financial Services / Banking.
What is PayPal Holdings, Inc. doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Energy Source (7/10, 7/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Resource Use & Waste (4/10, 4/10).
Where PayPal Holdings, Inc. lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its effect on natureMeasure its effect on nature and have it independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles wasteReport measurable waste or recycling targets publicly.
- Its effect on waterMeasure its water footprint and set reduction targets.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling6/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is7/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste4/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets5/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies4/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is PayPal Holdings, Inc.'s SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is PayPal Holdings, Inc.'s score based on?
8 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
38% of them were published by PayPal Holdings, Inc. itself; the rest come from independent sources.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does PayPal Holdings, Inc. compare with other financial services / banking companies?
Where PayPal Holdings, Inc. sits among financial services / banking peers.
Among the 61 major financial services / banking brands we've scored, PayPal Holdings, Inc. is tied =9th of 61, with 3 others.
Who scores higher in Financial Services / Banking?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above PayPal Holdings, Inc..
Mastercard met its SBTi-approved 2025 targets and publishes PwC-assured emissions data, but its Scope 1 and 2 emissions rose in 2025 and its total fell only 1%. 27% of its 100% renewable electricity comes from unbundled certificates, and its carbon-neutral operations claim relies partly on carbon credits.
See the breakdown →TRIG is a renewable-energy infrastructure investor with near-zero operational emissions but rising portfolio emissions (38% year-on-year) driven by construction.
See the breakdown →Visa operates a global payments duopoly enabling fossil-fuel commerce at scale without restriction, despite having SBTi-approved climate targets and 100% renewable electricity.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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