Credit Cards That Donate to Charities

Donating to charities is a worthwhile and good thing to do and it is something that most of us have done in the past and will hopefully do again in the future, but the overriding factor that probably most of us feels is that we would like to do a lot more for charity, but finding the time is always the main reason that holds us back from doing so.

Now a way of doing more is at your disposal without having to change your diary or lifestyle, if you are thinking of changing your card due to the new deals that are being offered at the moment, by either balance transferring your existing card or are basically just taking out a new one or a taking out a card for the first time, then choosing one of the many affinity cards that that are on the market and associated to some of our top charities in trying to raise cash for the needy.

It works with the credit card company’s giving a small donation is automatically made to the charity that is associated with the card, with every purchase that is made by you, this will be in the region of 0.05% with some giving 0.2% for every pound spent, the donation may seem a little low to you, but if you had to add up the total amount raised over the full year, then it is beneficial and very welcomed by the charities involved.

A signing on fee is also made to the nominated charities, as when taking out a new credit card, like the Co-op’s affinity card that brings the charities, Green-peace, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Bernardos, Help the Aged and Action Aid under it’s umbrella, though check the conditions set on the card as they vary for the different charities, from the Amnesty International affinity card that receives the amount of £15 when you sign up, to Action Aid’s card that only gets £10 as an initial fee.

Though we all have charities that touched our lives in some way or you just feel are more deserving, just be careful and check out the APR that the card is taking, so that you are not leaving yourself open to a higher APR that will cost you in the long run, leaving you with the feeling that making a personal donation to your charity would have been a better option. Some Affinity credit cards have a lower rate of 12.3% but some are charging up to as much as 17.9%.

If you plan to go for an Affinity card then you cant go wrong looking at the Halifax Affinity card, that has an attractive deal that offers everybody that applies for a card a blanket APR of 12.9%, this goes against the grain of the others who use the risked based pricing that goes on your credit rating, the Halifax deal gives you more of a saving and giving charities such as the NSPCC, MENCAP and Cancer Research UK a better chance of a crewing a more substantial amount to the charity as you will probably be willing to use the card more.

Though just remember that you still have to pay the bill, so don’t feel obliged to use the card on a large purchase with the thought that you are going to gain the charity a bigger donation, this can lead to incurring an interest charge and costing you more for the product that you have purchased, so just make sure that it is right for you.