Customers to direct their credit card fees

[img_assist|nid=8405|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=67|height=100] Today credit card holders may choose the organization where part of the profits gained by the banks issuing their cards will be redirected. With these profits derived by the corporate banks from their credit card business financial institutions often fund programs which are not in conformity with the ideology of their customers, at least the majority of their customers.

On opening a credit card with a bank or credit union the fees charged to a consumer late fees, annual fees, balance transfer fees — as well as the fees that the merchants pay make up a revenue for the card issuing entity. The financial institution in turn mobilizes the money in the form of loans to individuals and businesses. Thus the question arises: how will the bank issuing the card, that a customer subscribed to,  be able to use these profits?

“Community investing and socially responsible banks and credit unions provide the best opportunity for consumers to avoid supporting negative practices,” says Fran Teplitz, Co-op America’s director of social investing programs. “When you use a mega-bank’s card, you’re bolstering all the things the bank’s loans support, from clearcutting forests to building new coal-fired power plants.”