Are Green Credit Cards Right for You?

The "going green" lifestyle has taken its hold on Americans and is dragging the media, the politicians and even the finance industry into the mix. Now you can apply not only for gold and platinum credit cards, but also green credit cards, which are supposed to help the environmental causes that support a green society. If you are interested in making the world a better place, are green credit cards right for you?

Green credit cards work off the rewards systems that have become so popular in recent years. Instead of earning points toward free merchandise or gift certificates, a portion of your purchases (usually about 1%) goes toward a green cause. Banks such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo offer a donation history on your credit card statements, and you get the satisfaction of paying interest to help causes in your name.

In most cases, green credit cards support a variety of environmental organizations, from saving endangered species to production of ethanol. Very few financial institutions allow customers to choose the causes to which they contribute; instead, all donated funds are put into a single "pile" and the bank makes donations as it chooses. In other words, you might not be saving the whales at all, but helping out subsistence farmers. It's a big gamble, from the looks of things.

Nevertheless, some people enjoy using credit cards to help out a cause, regardless of where their hard-earned money is going. It might become a status symbol in the coming years---platinum-level credit cards won't be quite as high on the totem pole as their green counterparts. Regardless, it seems that the green movement is here to stay, so those that support it might as well jump on board.