Sustainability as smart operations: how banks can cut waste and costs

Sustainability is often viewed by banks as an added cost to balance against efficiency and performance. In payment card issuance, that assumption no longer holds. 

Today, sustainability is increasingly the result of better operations. By reducing inefficiencies such as failed deliveries, unnecessary handling and avoidable transport, banks can lower costs, reduce environmental impact and improve customer experience at the same time. 

Efficiency is the real driver of impact

Banks face constant pressure to reduce cost‑to‑serve while maintaining service quality and meeting increasingly explicit sustainability targets. 

Historically, sustainability efforts have focused on materials such as recycled plastics or alternative polymers. While important, these initiatives are often perceived as increasing unit costs. 

In reality, a large share of both cost and environmental impact comes from how efficiently card issuance is managed: 

• Failed deliveries lead to re‑issuance
• Poor shipment visibility increases customer enquiries and manual handling
• Urgent shipments are often used to compensate for upstream issues 

Each inefficiency increases both cost and impact. Improving operations changes the equation by making sustainability a natural outcome of efficiency. 

Where waste happens in card issuance

Industry feedback shows that 5 to 10% of cards are returned due to incorrect or outdated address data, creating avoidable cost and friction. Every failed delivery triggers re‑issuance, adding production, transport and operational effort. 

Limited delivery visibility drives uncertainty, call centre traffic and unnecessary intervention. Express shipments can account for up to 40% of card deliveries. They are frequently used to recover from earlier issues, further increasing costs and emissions. 

The conclusion is simple: operational inefficiency drives both financial and environmental cost. 

Operational levers that make a difference

Banks do not need to redesign their entire card programme to see results. A data‑driven approach helps identify inefficiencies, target the most impactful actions and deliver measurable improvements quickly. 

Improving address quality reduces failed deliveries and re‑issuance at source. Delivery visibility increases transparency, reduces inbound calls and focuses intervention on real exceptions, while improving customer experience. Optimising logistics and transport further reduces express shipments, improving both cost and carbon performance. 

In addition, platforms such as Thales D1 enable instant issuance, digital PIN delivery and virtual cards, giving customers immediate access to payment services, often before the physical card arrives. This reduces reliance on urgent shipments, lowers material use and accelerates time‑to‑first use. 

By shifting issuance from a linear, physical process to a digital‑first model, Thales D1 improves efficiency and experience at scale. 

Measurable outcomes across cost, sustainability and experience

Improved operational efficiency delivers clear, measurable outcomes: 

• Up to 10% reduction in re‑issuance
• Up to 10% reduction in transport costs
• Up to 100% reduction in printed PIN mailers
• Up to 45% reduction in CO₂ emissions from transport 

These gains translate directly into lower costs, fewer materials and fewer shipments. At the same time, customers benefit from faster access to payment, clearer delivery tracking and more reliable service. 

Operational efficiency delivers a triple win: lower cost, lower impact and better experience.

From insight to action

Achieving these outcomes requires an end‑to‑end view of the issuance lifecycle. 

Thales supports banks from enrolment and personalisation through to delivery and activation. By combining digital‑first services such as address validation, delivery visibility, digital PINs and virtual cards with proven operational and logistics capabilities, Thales helps banks reduce inefficiencies at scale. 

This data‑driven approach enables continuous optimisation and measurable, sustained improvement.