Affinity Credit Cards Not as Charitable As They Should Be

Affinity credit cards donate a percentage of cardholder purchases to charity. The exact charity depends on which affinity credit card you have - but the amount is usually around 25 - 50 cents for every $100 charged on the credit card. Doesn’t seem like much; but in 2006, US cardholder’s affinity credit card use donated over $300 billion to various charities.
One of the nice features of the affinity cards is that the card is designed with the charity name or symbols. Each time a cardholder takes the card out to pay for a purchase, someone is bound to see the charity name or design; and it then becomes a mini, moving, billboard advertisement for the organization.
The trouble with many of these charitable credit cards is that they’re charging the cardholders higher finance fees or interest rates than non-charitable cards, in order to make the donations. Instead of using one of these credit cards, cardholders could donate the amount they would pay on the fees of these cards to the charities of their choice- and end up giving more.
Since the majority of people don’t think to donate that often, however, affinity credit cards are a good way to let the money you spend help someone else.