Green Credit Cards: How To Use Credit Cards In a Green Way
Filed Under (Credit Cards Blog) by creditblogger on 05-08-2008
Green Credit Cards are one of the hottest types of cards these days. With all the discussion that has been going on about the necessity of people living greener lives to help creating a better world, credit card companies have taken it upon themselves to offer consumers a few green options. There are in general three types of green credit cards:
- Green Environment Cards
- Energy Credit Cards
- Grant Credit Cards
The Green environment cards are dedicated to providing consumers with ways to save the environment. The GE’s Earth Rewards credit card allows consumers to get rewards for their purchases and spend them on the Earth day to show their support for the mother nature. GE doesn’t claim that this card will help reverse the global warming effects, but it does promise to educate the card holders and provide them with ways to save our green planet.
The green energy credit cards are very similar to the type discussed above, but their goal is to help find a better energy solution for all. It’s not just about burning less oil, but also finding true alternative environment friendly energy solutions for the future. Prosumer credit card program is just one example of a credit card that is out to achieve something greater than just saving cardholders money — saving our future.
Barclaycard Breathe Credit Card is a green credit card that fits the first two categories. Not only Barclaycard donates 50% of profits on this card to green causes, you will also get special rates for using public transportation. So you get to save money and save the environment at the same time.
Grant credit cards are a new type of green credit cards that allow you to offer grants to social entrepreneurs around the world. In essence, if you can’t help the environment yourself, why not provide support for entrepreneurs who can potentially come up with solutions to help the society and environment. Kiva credit card is the best example of grant credit cards. Kiva green credit card is the fruit of a partnership between Kiva foundation (a non-profit organization) and Advanta (a business credit card issuer). Kiva finds the entrepreneurs in need and Advanta matches what its holders donate to Kiva to provide double the support for the social entrepreneurs in need.
Many argue that green credit cards do not make business sense for credit card companies. That is not necessarily true. The amount of goodwill that credit card companies gain by supporting a good cause often offsets the amount of money they lose in the process. At the same time, credit card companies are part of our society. When they give back, everybody wins.
