The charity credit card is supposed to be a neat way to help your favourite good causes every time you use your card.
Popular good causes include AIDS charities, environmental groups and cancer awareness and research organisations. This sounds like a good idea and having your card company donate a percentage of your spending to a specified charitable cause could work really well.
The problem with the charity credit card is that the amounts donated are very small indeed and the interest rates you pay on your spending are generally on the high side. So not only are you helping your chosen charity less than you might have hoped but you are losing out financially into the bargain.
In fact the only people who do seem to be gaining are the card companies. Funny that. So if you really want to donate money to a charitable cause, use a new credit card with a special offer or transfer your existing balance to a 0% interest balance transfer credit card and donate the interest saved.
You will be able to give potentially hundreds of pounds more and you’ll get to choose the charity. So if you feel like helping wounded British servicemen rather than planting trees you can donate to Help for Heroes or the Army Benevolent Fund instead.
See our charity credit card comparison table for the current charity cards available. Or see our other comparison tables if you would rather take out a new credit card or cut your interest costs with a balance transfer credit card and donate the money saved directly to charity yourself. You could also do the same with a platinum credit card. Other ways to get a little extra from your spending include the cashback credit card and the reward card.
