Company: DLX
Filing Date: 2025-03-10
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000027996-25-000107
Chunk: 1

Company: DELUXE CORP
Filing Date: 2025-03-10
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 1
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 considered shareholder input on topics ranging from compensation strategy and design, including our goal-setting process and how we disclose our metrics, to the composition of our board and corporate governance practices, and broader ESG and DEI efforts.

My colleague on the board, Paul Garcia, who chairs the Compensation and Talent Committee, led each engagement meeting, joined by senior leaders from the investor relations, legal, and human resources teams. Overall, we reached out to shareholders representing approximately 74% of our outstanding shares, and Mr. Garcia and our senior management team engaged with every shareholder who accepted a meeting, representing approximately 42% of our outstanding shares. Detailed disclosure of our extensive shareholder engagement efforts can be found on page 25 of this proxy statement.

The primary topic of discussion during these meetings was executive compensation, and we have made several changes to our executive compensation program to better align our executives’ pay to long-term shareholder value creation and to provide more transparency around our executive compensation plans and adjustments. More details of these changes can be found in the shareholder engagement discussion in this Proxy Statement. The board and I sincerely appreciate the shareholder feedback we received during these discussions, and we look forward to continued engagement.

#### Board Oversight
As directors, we oversee the company’s strategy and execution, including ensuring we have the right leaders in place to realize our vision as a trusted Payments and Data company.

A strong leadership team is critical to our continued evolution from a print and manufacturing company to a modern, technology-first company focused on the full spectrum of payments and data solutions. This is not just a transition in the products and services we offer to our customers, but also in the culture and makeup of the organization at large. As a board, we are dedicated to supporting this work and ensuring we have strong governance practices and the right mix of experience and expertise to provide thoughtful, independent oversight of Deluxe’s strategy, performance, and culture.

A prime example of this approach is our ongoing commitment to board refreshment. We appointed Angela Brown to our board last fall, and we appointed Hugh Cummins and Morgan Schuessler to our board earlier this year. In addition to Ms. Brown’s extensive background in merchant services, Messrs. Cummins and Schuessler each bring to us significant payments and fintech experience, all of which will provide us with valuable industry-leading perspectives on the markets we serve.

Reaching our North Star to Create Long-Term Value for Shareholders

The first steps in our process to transform from a check printing company to a digitally driven trusted Payments and Data company involved updating