Responsible Credit Card Guide 

The key to finding a responsible credit card is to find a responsible bank that issues the card. This may be as close as the community development bank or credit union where you already bank -- or you may need to do some more digging to find a responsible credit card.

That’s where our Responsible Credit Card Guide, developed with Rivers and Mountains GreenFaith and Third Act Upstate New York, comes in. This guide below lists the best options for obtaining a responsible credit card issued by a bank or credit union, along with other options.  

First, check your local bank or credit union

If your socially responsible bank or credit union is not a major funder or investor in fossil fuels, and if it issues its own credit card, your quest is over! You can use that card knowing the fees will not be disproportionately repurposed to drive the climate crisis.  

However, you will need to make sure your better bank or credit union is not outsourcing its credit cards to another institution that disproportionately funds fossil fuels. For example, over 300 credit unions and over 1300 banks have outsourced issuing and servicing their credit cards to Elan Financial – which is owned by US Bank, a major lender and investor in fossil fuels.  

You can find thousands of responsible banks and credit unions nationwide through Green America’s Get a Better Bank map. Many of these institutions offer their own credit cards. Check their websites for further information about who is issuing these cards, or call the bank or credit union directly to ask. 

If your responsible bank or credit union does not issue its own credit card, or if the card has been outsourced to a fossil bank, then you’ll need to look for a responsible credit card elsewhere.  Below is our guide for how to look for a financial institution that issues a responsible card -- and what to avoid.

Best Options – Credit Unions 

Here are a few examples of the many credit unions that self-issue credit cards. Membership in most credit unions is limited to a specific location, but a few are available nationwide. 

Restricted membership	Open membership – nationwide  (states with branch locations)
Self-Help Credit Union (NC, SC, FL)	Self-Help Federal Credit Union (CA, IL, WA, WI)
SELCO Community Credit Union (OR, WA)	Hope Credit Union (MS, LA, AR, AL, TN)
Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union (NYC)	Connexus Credit Union (WI, MN, IL)
Greylock Federal Credit Union (Western Mass)	Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union (FL)
Clearwater Credit Union (Montana)	MSU Federal Credit Union (MI)

Many credit unions offer credit cards that feature their logo but outsource credit cards to another institution. The following credit card issuers are owned by credit unions and not involved in funding fossil fuels: 

• America’s Credit Unions (formerly CUNA) 

• PSCU | COOP Solutions 

• CSCU - Card Services for Credit Unions 

Best Options – Banks 

Two non-fossil banks that issue credit cards are FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha) and TCM (Total Card Management), a subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), which issues the Green America credit card. There are no indications that either bank loans to or invests in the fossil fuel industry. Bank of Missouri also issues cards for several local community banks. 

Here is a sample of some of the credit cards issued by these two banks (linked banks are listed in the Green America Get a Better Bank map): 

FNBO - First National Bank of Omaha	TCM Bank/ICBA
Amalgamated Bank (NYC, DC)	Native American Bank
Community Bank, N.A. (NY, VT, PA)	Abacus Federal Savings Bank (NY, NJ, PA)
Flagstar (MI, NYC, FL)	BOM Bank (Bank of Montgomery) (LA, TX)
Wintrust Bank, N.A. (Chicago area)	Evertrust Bank (CA)
Glacier Bancorp (WA, MT, ID, UT, WY, CO, AZ, NV)	Farmers and Merchants Bank (MD)
SEIU (labor union)	Green America

Note: A few climate groups have downlisted credit cards issued by TCM due to an ICBA report on climate change regulation that said: “ICBA will oppose any climate risk regulation that adversely impacts community banks and their ability to support their communities and customers.” However, there are no indications that TCM or ICBA loan to or invest in the fossil fuel industry. 

Corporate Options 

Some credit cards are issued by large financial institutions that have no indication of loans to or investments in the fossil fuel industry. However, the fees from these credit cards are not used to build local community the way fees that benefit community development banks and credit unions do.   

Corporate credit card issuers include: 

• American Express 

• Bread Financial - formerly Comenity (issues store cards for 100+ large retail chains) 

• Synchrony Bank (issues cards for Sam’s Club, PayPal, Venmo) 

• ServisFirst Bank 

• UMB Bank 

Worst Options 

The worst credit card issuers are the megabanks that lend and invest billions of dollars in the fossil fuel industry. Listed in order of financing by the Banking on Climate Chaos report, these US banks include: 

Bank Rank	Bank Name	2024 fossil fuel finance (in billions)	Change in financing 2023-2024 (in billions)
1	JPMorgan Chase	$53.5B	+$15B
2	Bank of America	$46B	+$12.7B
3	Citigroup	$44.7B	+$14.9B
5	Wells Fargo	$39.3B	+$9.1B
10	Goldman Sachs	$28.5B	+$9.5B
12	Morgan Stanley	$27B	+$7.6B
19	Truist Financial	$16.6B	+$2.3B
22	PNC Financial Services	$15.3B	+$2.6B
25	US Bancorp	$13B	+$0.863B
40	Capital One	$5.5B	+$1.1B
	Total for US megabanks	$289.4B	+$75.7B

Please note that many Canadian, European, Asian, and South American banks also do business in the United States. If the bank that issues your credit card is headquartered in another country, you can check the Banking on Climate Chaos report to see if it is one of the top 65 fossil banks.  

Ready to move to a responsible credit card? Learn how to make the switch! 

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