Credit Card Overview
Fact: there are more credit cards than people in Britain and the country's debt problems are amongst the worst in the world.
When choosing a card provider, its policies on responsible lending and debt advice provision are of key importance. The green and ethical concerns you bring to who you bank with, concerns about equal opportunities or the environment, are just as applicable to who you get your credit card from.
This section also looks at the green or ethical worth, as well as the practicalities of charity affinity cards.
Does your credit card provider treat its customers responsibly?
What are charity affinity cards and how do they work?
Does your credit card provider treat its customers responsibly?
Responsible lending
According to the British Banker's Association (BBA), responsible lending means 'providing credit, based on background checks and professional judgement, to people who can accommodate repayments without getting into financial difficulty'. As the sheer number of people in debt today shows, these principles are not always well applied by credit lending institutions. In 2008 our credit card debt hit £54.4bn and continues to rise.
Transparency is key - credit card customers should be presented with the terms and conditions attached to their card up front and in plain English. It is important to check whether your provider has a responsible lending policy in place, and how it is implemented if it does exist.
Debt management
Credit card debt is all too common in the UK. Some financial institutions offer basic in-house debt advice services, the scope of which can vary greatly. Often providers will refer customers to free advice services including the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, the Citizens Advice Bureau and others.
Use our search tool to find details of your provider's debt management services. Information on this subject can be found under 'Responsibility toward Customers'. Alternatively contact your provider directly for further information.
What are charity affinity cards and how do they work?
Affinity card providers make a small donation on behalf of the card holder to the charity it is associated with.
Such charity donations average around 25p per £100 spent. So, in order to donate £100 to your charity of choice you'd have to spend £40,000 with the card. Most providers also make a one-off donation of between £5 and £25 on each new card account.
In their analysis of charity affinity cards moneysavingexpert.com suggest that a more effective way to donate money is to use cash back cards. Cash back cards operate in much the same way as affinity cards except that instead of a charity, additional money goes to the card holder and this money is usually considerably more than a standard charity card donation. The cash back card holder can then donate the money they have earned to the charity of their choice and if eligible, Gift Aid it, so rather than £1 the charity will receive £1.28. Donations on affinity cards are not eligible for Gift Aid.
View the range of charity affinity cards available on the market click here.
Your next steps
See our guide Next Steps - Credit Cards for more suggestions on how to find out about your credit card provider's green and ethical policies, how to contact them and how to find the right credit card for you.
Credit Card Search
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Financial Institution |
Criteria | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9.09 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14.3 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13.3 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11.76 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11.1 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13.3 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11.1 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10.5 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10.5 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14.28 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10.5 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.88 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
20 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.88 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
33 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15.4 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.88 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
33 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11.1 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
18.2 | |||||||||
Credit Card Provider
MINT
Green/Ethical Products
None
Ethical Lending or Insurance
No evidence was found of a policy on ethical lending or insurance was found specific to MINT. However, while the parent company, RBS, does not have a broad group-wide ethical policy it does have the following:
- Global lending and project finance for corporate customers (i.e. the Equator Principles are applied in project finance decisions)
- Ethical Code for Suppliers in line with the UN Global Compact principles (human rights)
Furthermore, a Sustainability Team manages all Corporate Responsibilities at executive level, including assessments of social and environmental impacts of the lending policy.
Responsible Lending
1. Credit Lending
MINT currently offers credit cards only. It is not taking new loan applications.
The bank uses information from credit reference agencies as well as behavioural and credit scoring techniques to assess secured and unsecured credit applications.
The bank does not have a policy to avoid making unsolicited increases to customers’ credit limits.
2. Debt Warning
No warnings were found as to the consequences of missing loan or credit card repayments. The bank does not refer customers to the FSA Debt Test or an equivalent test. This test is designed to help customers find out whether you have, or are likely to have, problems with borrowing. It also has tips on what to do if customers find themselves in difficulty.
3. Debt Management and Advice
With regard to customers experiencing difficulty making their repayments the bank asks customers to contact them as soon as possible and states that if repayments are protected with its Loan Payment Protection plan then they can be covered in the event of sickness, accident, major illness, death and, in some cases, unemployment. No restructuring options or payment holidays are offered.
Financial Exclusion
MINT does not offer any products to financially excluded customers.
Its parent company runs the RBS Financial Inclusion Innovation Fund which provides grants to voluntary and charitable organisations including the Royal National Institute for the Blind, Citizens Advice Bureau and Credit Unions.
RBS also works with Scotcash, a Community Development Finance Institution offering support to people in Glasgow who are otherwise excluded from financial services.
MINT provides the following means of access for disabled customers: textphone service, Typetalk, documents available in large print, in Braille and on audio tape.
Environment
The parent company, the RBS Group, addresses the key area of energy efficiency but not waste management in their Corporate Responsibility report. The report also states a commitment to continued improvement in performance.
Carbon Neutral
The parent company RBS, has set a goal to reduce the group's carbon emissions per employee in the UK and Ireland by 20% from 2006 levels by 2011. No pledge regarding absolute carbon neutrality has been made.
Equal Opportunities
RBS’s group policy addresses the key issues of gender, race, disability and sexuality.
Women on the Board
5.88% of parent company, RBS's, board members are women (2007).
Voluntary Standards & Initiatives
Charitable Giving
The parent company, RBS, donated 0.38% of its pre-tax profits in 2007.
MINT
- Credit cards
- Insurance
- Loans
