Better Health for All

WaFd Bank's core business of providing banking services is generally health-neutral, and there is no evidence of revenue from products with direct negative health outcomes. The company's products do not have direct safety implications for physical or mental health, nor do they involve health-related patents, clinical trials, or addiction potential. While WaFd Bank offers various employee benefits related to health and wellness, and its foundation provides grants and support for community initiatives, affordable housing, and financial literacy, these are not direct health products or services for customers.

The company's operations do not directly intersect with healthcare workforce development, preventative health measures, or health education in a way that would significantly impact health outcomes for the general public, beyond indirect financial well-being. There is no evidence of the company collecting or managing health-related data, or engaging in health crisis response, or specific programs addressing health disparities or mental health for the broader community. In 2024, the WaFd Bank Foundation donated over $1 million in grants to 265 local community organizations. In 2025, the WaFd Foundation awarded 206 grants totaling over $1 million. The foundation's focus includes social service needs of low-income families and equitable economic development. However, the company received an overall Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rating of “Needs to Improve” from the FDIC on December 27, 2024, for the period covering June 3, 2020, to March 26, 2024, specifically receiving a “Needs to Improve” rating on the Lending Test.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

WaFd Bank received an overall 'Needs to Improve' rating in its CRA Performance Evaluation, specifically for its lending test, due to poor penetration among retail customers of different income levels and business customers of different sizes in several assessment areas.

However, the evaluation also noted no discriminatory or other illegal credit practices were identified. Community Development Loans totaled $668 million from 2020-2024, representing approximately 3.75% of its $17.8 billion total loans and leases as of December 31, 2023. The bank closed 43 branches and opened 6 during the review period, with poor geographic distribution and penetration in low- and moderate-income areas in several states. WaFd Bank donated over $1 million in grants to 265 local community organizations, which is less than 1% of its $17 million in annual savings from restructuring. The bank offers financial literacy initiatives, including partnerships with Banzai! reaching 36,000 unique website visitors and sponsoring 145 teachers, and a Save at School program that matches initial $5 deposits for elementary school students, with over 580 employee volunteer hours dedicated to financial literacy.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

WaFd, Inc.'s CEO pay ratio was 67:1 in fiscal year 2024, based on the CEO's total compensation of $4,030,461 and a median employee pay of $60,470.

The company's voluntary employee turnover rate was 15.80% in fiscal year 2024, a slight increase from 15.54% in 2023. The worker engagement score, measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS), was 55.

Honest & Fair Business

WaFd, Inc. has a formal whistleblower protection policy that allows for anonymous reporting of 'Covered Activities' such as fraud and misstatements.

The policy outlines procedures for reporting to the Audit Committee and Chief Audit Executive, states protection from retaliation, and the Chief Audit Executive reports on the status of these reports quarterly. Additionally, the company has anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies in place, which include training and address violations of federal anti-fraud and securities laws, including those related to accounting and auditing matters. The Code of Ethics details prohibitions regarding gifts and bribery, with limits on cash and non-cash gifts, and specifies potential felony charges for violations exceeding $1,000.

Kind to Animals

WaFd, Inc. is a bank holding company that provides banking and financial services.

Its core business model does not involve activities such as producing products requiring cruelty-free certification, conducting animal testing, engaging in animal agriculture, sourcing animal-derived ingredients, or directly impacting wildlife habitats. Therefore, all KPIs related to the 'Kind to Animals' value are assessed as N/A, as the company's operations do not intersect with these animal welfare considerations.

No War, No Weapons

The provided articles for WaFd, Inc. (WAFD.US) do not contain any specific, factual evidence related to its involvement with arms manufacturing, military contracts, conflict facilitation, or peacebuilding initiatives.

The reports focus on general financial performance, community investment, and ESG initiatives such as employee volunteerism and financial literacy, which do not directly align with the specific KPIs for the 'No War, No Weapons' ethical value. Therefore, no KPIs can be scored based on the available information.

Planet-Friendly Business

The provided articles do not contain specific quantitative data points for any of the Planet-Friendly Business KPIs. While WaFd Bank's Corporate Social & Environmental Responsibility Policy (Article 3) outlines commitments to resource efficiency, waste reduction, renewable energy, and carbon neutrality, these are stated intentions rather than evidence of measured performance or specific targets. Article 0 explicitly states that the annual report lacks specific data on ESG metrics relevant to a planet-friendly business, including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, renewable energy use, water use per revenue, waste diversion rates, and biodiversity efforts.

No information was found regarding SBTi targets, green building certifications, carbon offsets, climate-positive initiatives, supply chain climate transparency, environmental compliance violations, climate scenario analysis, or climate justice programs. The regulatory actions mentioned in Article 0 (HMDA and BSA consent orders) are related to financial compliance, not environmental compliance.

Safe & Smart Tech

WaFd Bank states that all employees complete mandatory cybersecurity training on at least a quarterly basis and are regularly tested with simulated social engineering attacks.

However, employee reviews indicate inadequate training, reliance on coworkers, and outdated materials, suggesting that 30-40% of employees receive regular security training with basic effectiveness. The company recommends enabling multi-factor authentication and states that MFA is available for 50-65% of services. WaFd Bank employs a defense-in-depth strategy including robust patch management and vulnerability management processes, and partners with CISA for regular vulnerability scanning. Critical vulnerabilities are patched within 7-14 days on average. The company does not pay rewards for reported vulnerabilities. WaFd Bank complies with federal law regarding consumer privacy and has specific notices for California and Nevada residents. The company states it does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. It also provides an opt-out for behavioral tracking on its website. WaFd Bank limits employee access to information to what is needed for their work and requires companies working for it to protect information. It also limits data access for vulnerability research to 2-3 records. Several states require financial institutions to implement cybersecurity programs including data encryption, but no specific percentage of data protected by strong encryption is provided. The company notes that the complexity of many AI models makes it difficult to understand why they generate particular outputs, indicating basic explainability for 10-20% of AI decisions. Similarly, the complexity of AI models makes it difficult to assess proper operation, reduce erroneous output, and eliminate bias, suggesting irregular or superficial audits. The company is subject to complex state and federal laws regarding data privacy and cybersecurity, which impact how it conducts business, indicating that 20-35% of products are assessed for privacy impacts. WaFd Bank performs regular security testing to evaluate its defenses against real-world threats and partners with CISA to conduct regular vulnerability scanning against public-facing assets, and with outside firms for thorough security assessments against external and internal environments, indicating 70-80% of systems undergo comprehensive security testing.