Barclaycard Introduces 'Breathe' Credit Card

Posted

Barclaycard has launched its green credit card to mixed reactions from financial experts. The card, dubbed Breathe, offers a number of incentives to encourage greener spending, The Guardian reports. Cardholders will pay an interest rate of 14.9 percent, but only 5.9 percent on purchases of rail and bus tickets, and will get discounts on home insulation, green energy and holidays in the UK.

Barclaycard has promised to donate 50 percent of its profits from Breathe to PURE, a UK charity that invests in low energy projects. In the first year, it has pledged that donations will total at least £1m.

However, Michelle Slade, an analyst at the financial website Moneyfacts.co.uk., questioned the idea of linking donations with profits, pointing out that cardholders who pay their balance on time will not be contributing to carbon reduction programs.

Wells Fargo offers a credit card with renewable energy reward options.  Bank of America has announced that it’s planning a green credit card for the U.S. Bright Planet plans to launch a card that cancels out your carbon output

Environment + Energy Leader