Best credit cards are going green

By Jeremy M. Simon

While environmentally conscious consumers may already make their Earth-friendly purchases online or at the store with a credit card, they may still wonder about how green their plastic really is.  Luckily, a number of trends over recent years have made credit cards more environmentally sound.

Among the products offered by major credit card issuers are affinity cards that are associated with nonprofit organizations.  These affinity credit cards often feature the environmental group's logo on the card and donate to that group for certain types of transactions. 

When consumers make purchases, transfer balances or get cash advances with their credit card, a percentage is given to the group, providing them with a dependable revenue stream.

Although an individual credit card may give back, consumers may still be skeptical about how green the underlying card issuing bank is.  But amid focus from consumers and environmental groups, some banks have committed themselves to being more earth-friendly. 

For example, Bank of America, Chase and Citi adopted a lending policy several years back that addresses global warming and deforestation.

Meanwhile, credit cards themselves are becoming less harmful to the planet.  A corn-based plastic means that credit cards can be made from an alternative material to the petroleum often found in credit cards, prepaid cards and gift cards.

For consumers who already have a cash back credit card, the money they earn on transactions can make a great source for contributions to their favorite environmental group.

Published: May 22, 2007

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