In March 2007, Bank of
America announced plans for an "eco-friendly" credit card. For each
dollar consumers spent with this card, Bank of America would contribute
to helping the environment. It stated that existing credit card holders
could, under its airline travel incentive programs, turn in their
earned points for cash for environmental programs. Other banks
announced similar plans, including Wells Fargo, Citibank and Bright
Planet, a Vermont company that introduced Bright Card to benefit
clean-energy projects.
While the banks claim they are interested in supporting the
environment, Robert McKinley, CEO of online publisher CardWeb.com, stated that
their interest was in public relations. Congress was, at the time,
reviewing credit card fee practices and this was an effort to make the
companies look more consumer friendly. Also, there are now so many
credit cards with so many reward programs, banks are looking for new
ways to get new customers.
As you read the name "Bank of America," you probably realize that this
bank and many of these other banks are the same ones that got countless
billions of our tax dollars for bailouts. They also pour countless
millions into lobbying against our interests as consumers. Yet, most of
us have credit cards issues by banks that work against us.
Green America (formerly Co-op America) has organized quite a bit of
information about credit card companies, which may be accessed online
(see weblink, below). As our nation's banking institutions are
currently changing very rapidly, some of these banks may have already
merged or been taken over by even bigger banks.
Bank of America, Capital One, MBNA, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley (owner of
Discover Card), USAA, Wachovia and Wells Fargo have made huge
contributions to Republicans. JP Morgan Chase's huge political
contributions were balanced between Republicans and Democrats.
Washington Mutual's contributions were weighted toward Democrats. These
contributions do not come from the pockets of the CEOs or stockholders,
but from our consumer dollars, which are then used to work against us.
A few years ago, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup agreed to pay a combined
$236 million for legal charges related to the Enron scandal. The
Rainforest Action Network is targeting Wachovia, Wells Fargo, Merrill
Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston. It has separate
legal actions aimed at Wells Fargo for financing illegal logging in
Indonesia, and against Credit Suisse First Boston for funding an
environmentally destructive oil pipeline project.
We have all read about those losing their savings and even their homes
due to credit card debt. High fees and interest rates, often hidden
when you sign up for a card, are key issues that have brought U.S.
households an average debt of $14,000. The typical American has or 7–8
credit cards.
Some people feel better using an "affinity card." These credit cards
are issued by major banks, but carry the logo of a nonprofit
organization. Many believe that using these credit cards is an
important help for their favorite nonprofits. They usually don't
realize the average contribution to the nonprofit is only one-half cent
on every dollar the consumer spends. Furthermore, the banks don't
readily make it known that interest rates are often higher on these
cards, and that they usually carry annual fees that other cards don't
have. Working Assets' VISA card is perhaps the best known and
"greenest" of the major credit cards. It donates 10 cents of every
purchase to social change and nonprofits voted on by the consumers. It
has a lower interest rate than many other cards, and no annual fee.
Working Assets has been an impressive force for social change,
generating millions of letters, e-mails, petitions, etc. to policy
makers over the years. Still, consumers need be aware that Working
Assets VISA is issued by MBNA (see above), which bought the program
from another bank that Working Assets had used for many years--one that
was more in line with its goals.
Bank of America is the bank through which my wife and I were getting
our VISA card. It is the same bank that we spent countless hours with,
trying to get them to do what they promised in their various incentive
programs. We are now happy to say that we no longer use their credit
card and have switched to a local credit union. The credit union was
easy to work with, and we actually did everything in person.
The Woodstock Institute reports: "Credit cards issued by credit unions
have similar purchase interest rates but come with fewer fees, lower
fees, lower default rates, and conditions that are much clearer." Local
credit unions include Capital Communications Federal Credit Union and
State Employees Federal Credit Union.
Besides using a local credit union for our credit card, my wife and I
are also are going back, as much as possible, to the much simpler way
of doing business that we used most of our lives-- cash. We will shop
locally when we can, support businesses that support our interests, and
also look for a little barter along the way.
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