Credit cards with a heart!

The next time you decide to go in for a piece of plastic, why not go in for one associated with a cause?

The best part is, even the least inclined can do something without going through the hassles of writing out cheques to charities.

Standard Chartered has a card associated with the Wildlife Trust of India, Citibank has one which donates to Child Relief & You (CRY) and another with the World Wildlife Fund and the State Bank of India recently launched a social card associated with four causes, Cancer Patients Aid Association, the National Association for the Blind, SOS Children's Villages of India and WWF India.

These cards donate a small percentage of the card spends and the yearly fees to the charity.

So how much money does an NGO actually get through this association?

Through the Standard Chartered Wildlife card, 5 per cent of the card's one time fees of Rs 1,299, i.e. Rs 65 goes to the Delhi-based, wildlife conservation organisation, Wildlife Trust of India for every new card user.

Another 0.2 per cent of spends or 20 paise for every Rs 100 that a card holder spends through the plastic goes to the trust.

So far Standard Chartered has issued 12,000 of these cards over the last two years and the Wildlife Trust of India got close to Rs 800,000 through it.

So what does the bank stand to gain? Certainly not money since it takes a cut on its margins but it gets to build the image of being a responsible company, say bankers.

For many of these NGOs the monetary inflow is not significant. Says Ravi Singh, secretary general & CEO, WWF, "These credit card associations are more about a relationship between a cause and an individual, creating consciousness rather than of a pecuniary nature."

But if one yearns to donate more, the new the SBI social card offers a provision. Give a standing instruction to the bank and it will donate X amount through the card every month without any elaborate paperwork. Make sure you get a receipt from the NGO and claim a tax exemption on filing returns.

But remember there is no tax exemption available for the amounts donated from the card spends and the card fees.

There are other lollipops for the customer. For instance the WWF Citibank card holders get invites to nature camps organised by the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

The Standard Chartered Wildlife card gives free membership to the Bangalore-based greenie group, Le Wild and enthusiasts can get discounts at eco-resorts and on adventure gear through it.