FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New report reveals companies that care about the climate crisis have a hidden weapon: their credit cards.
Contact:
Alec Connon, 206-258-9176, alec@stopthemoneypipeline.com
Sarah Lasoff, 818-929-8777, sarahlasoff@stopthemoneypipeline.com
Seattle, WA – Today, a coalition of 68 civil society organizations representing more than 5.6 million supporters, released a major new report: Better Options: How large companies and nonprofits can select a climate-aligned credit card partner.
Better Options is a first-of-its-kind report that assesses the climate performance of the 20 largest credit card issuers in the United States based on their alignment with the International Energy Agency’s ’Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep 1.5°C Within Reach’.
Eight of the financial institutions analyzed did not provide large-scale financing to the fossil fuel industry in the time period analyzed (2021-2024), and are therefore aligned with the IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 pathway. These companies include major credit card issuers, such as American Express, Synchrony, and Credit One Bank.
Meanwhile, twelve of the financial institutions analyzed, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, provided tens of billions of dollars to the fossil fuel industry over the same timeframe, meaning they are deeply misaligned with the IEAs Net Zero pathway.
“What this means,” said lead author of Better Options, Sarah Lasoff with Stop the Money Pipeline, “Is that major companies with co-branded credit card partnerships have a decision to make: maintain their relationships with their existing credit card partners that are fueling the climate crisis; or come up with a clear and responsible plan to switch to a better option and partner with a company that’s aligned with their own climate goals and commitments.”
The Better Options report comes less than a week after scientists warned that Earth was getting perilously close to reaching a “point of no return” at which climate tipping points are triggered and runaway global warming threatens most life on Earth.The report also comes after nearly three years of campaigning to get Costco to end its co-branded credit card partnership with Citigroup, the world’s second-largest financier of fossil fuel expansion in recent years.
Since 2023, the Costco: Clean Up Your Credit Card campaign has gathered signatures from over 45,000 people, including 20,000 Costco members, urging the company to end its relationship with Citigroup; Costco shareholders have asked questions of the CEO at the company’s last two Annual General Meetings; and advocates have organized nearly 100 public events at farmers markets, Costco’s warehouses and headquarters, and published opinion pieces in media markets important to Costco.
In 2024, campaign leaders met with the Costco CEO at Costco’s HQ in Issaquah, WA, and have been engaging with Costco leadership since. However, one of the main obstacles campaigners have encountered when talking with Costco leadership is the lack of clarity about which credit card issuers climate-conscious companies should partner with. This is where the Better Options report comes in, as it lays out clear options for better co-branded credit card partners for large climate-responsible companies, such as Costco.
The Costco partnership is not insignificant to Citigroup. In total, Citigroup issues 82 million credit cards, and approximately 13 million of them (15.8%) are through its co-branded credit card partnership with Costco.
In order to find a more climate-aligned credit card partner, Costco needs to act now. Costco’s contract with Citigroup is up in 2029, which means their selection process for their next partner could start as soon as 2027. Campaigners and the authors of Better Options are urging Costco to commit to including climate criteria in its next credit card selection process. The Better Options report provides Costco and other companies with sample credit card selection criteria that are based on the IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 pathway.
“If Costco, and other large companies, announce that they’re going to prioritize working with financial institutions that aren’t in the business of fueling climate chaos, it would make a real difference,” said Rémi Hermant, Policy Analyst with Reclaim Finance. “It would help provide a major financial incentive to banks to finally get behind a fair and swift energy transition.”
Costco is not alone in having a co-branded credit card with a bank that is financing the fossil fuel expansion that drives runaway global heating, environmental racism, and deadly pollution. Disney, Amazon, and Southwest Airlines have co-branded credit cards with JPMorgan Chase; Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and the Susan B. Komen Foundation, one of the country’s largest breast cancer advocacy groups, have cards with Bank of America; and Expedia and Choice Hotels have co-branded card partnerships with Wells Fargo.
“These banks are financing climate destruction and environmental racism. But socially responsible companies such as Costco, and foundations, such as the Susan B. Komen Foundation, have an opportunity to stand with communities like mine that are facing the burdens of fossil fuel pollution and climate disaster,” said Roishetta Sibley Ozane, CEO of the Vessel Project of Louisiana, who met with the Costco CEO in 2024. “All they need to do is choose a better option for their co-branded credit card partner.”
The Better Options report can be viewed at: www.BetterOptionsReport.com
Additional Quotes
“Leadership means aligning your values with your power — especially in a moment as urgent as this one,” said Vanessa Arcara, President of Third Act. “Companies that publicly commit to climate responsibility cannot ignore the financial institutions they choose to partner with. The good news is that doing the right thing is entirely possible — and it doesn’t require hardship or sacrifice. Better options already exist. It simply takes one step of leadership to choose them and help accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and toward a just, livable future.”
“This report changes the game for the fight to end the funding of the fossil fuel industry and demonstrates the power of research: we had an ‘aha’ moment once we looked at global financial transactions and discovered that eight out of the twenty largest credit card issuers have not provided any large-scale financing to the fossil fuel industry in the past four years. That means that large institutions like Costco that want a co-branded credit card partner that isn’t funding the destruction of our planet, can now confidently choose one of the better options. Moving business on these terms will incentivize the entire banking sector to move away from fossil fuels.” – Lauren Parker, Researcher at LittleSis
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