Environmental Leader

Wells Fargo says it’s the first U.S. financial institution to offer cardholders renewable energy reward options. Consumer and business credit card and check card customers can now redeem reward points (reward detail) to support renewable energy projects and receive certificates for their donations.

For 5,000 points earned through purchases on their card, cardholders can support 6,000 kilowatt hours of green power. For 10,000 points, cardholders can support the development of enough green power to offset the more than seven tons of greenhouse gas emissions – what Wells says is the emissions from typical residential electricity use for a year.

Wells’ rewards card beats The Bright Card, set to launch in May, to the punch on being the first U.S. card to invest reward points in clean-energy projects.

Barclaycard plans to launch a “green” credit card  in an attempt to woo environmentally-conscious consumers, Marketing Week reports. The card will launch this summer in the UK but is expected to be rolled out globally.

Similar cards are offerred in Europe. Bank of America has announced that it’s also planning a green credit card for the U.S.