Officials state charity credit cards leave a lot to be desired

There are many different types of credit cards available on the market these days, such as 0% purchase cards and rewards based credit cards, and one type of card that has increased in popularity over recent years is the charity credit cards, which consumers can use to give a little back to society without having to take any action other than to spend on the card in the usual way.

With charity credit cards a certain amount of money is donated to charity based on the amount that the consumer spends on the card. However, industry experts have expressed concern that these cards are not as good as many people might think because the level of money donated to charity is so low.

Experts state that some cards pay as little as 25 pence per £100 spent on the card.

Some officials have suggested that a more effective way of donating money to charity could be to get a 0% purchase credit card for spending and then donate the money that might have otherwise been paid in interest to the charity of choice.

One industry official said: “Make sure that by acting charitably, your finances don’t become a charity case. Charitable cards, while commendable in theory, are let down by the small percentage of profits that actually end up in the pockets of the charities.”

He added: “If, for example, you spent £500 per month on the Nationwide Comic Relief card just £36 will have been donated to Comic Relief after a year. In contrast, the non-charitable Halifax One Online Special card, which offers zero per cent on purchases for 12 months, would save you over £500 in interest.”