moneysupermarket.com: Launch of Barclaycard Breathe

Commenting on the launch of Barclaycard Breathe, Rob Kenley, head of credit cards at price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, said: “There is a growing recognition by financial providers that people are becoming motivated by ethical concerns in all areas of their lives, including the credit cards they use.

"It’s easy to be cynical at the thought of credit card companies using green and ethical issues to market more of their products to consumers, but these are worthy causes. American Express Red contributes to The Global Fund to help fight AIDS in Africa and the Co-operative Bank donates to the homeless charity Shelter. Barclaycard Breathe takes green and ethical cards to a new level with 50 per cent of profits being donated to environmental projects, thereby making it the most generous card in this category by some distance.

"And with Breathe offering a special interest rate of 5.9 per cent on ‘green’ spend, such as public transport and energy saving products, cardholders who don’t repay their balance in full at the end of the month will pay a little bit of ‘green’ interest to help reduce carbon levels.”