GE Money’s Australia eco MasterCard
The eco MasterCard from GE Money provides an easy way for cardholders, motivated by their concern for the environment, to help earn carbon offsets to reduce their personal “carbon footprint”. A full 1 percent of every purchase is set aside each month and will be used to buy carbon offsets every year on Earth Day. Cardholders can also elect to receive a portion of the reward as cash back for themselves.
Environmental Benefit
An eco MasterCard cardholder who spends $700 a month on their card over the course of a year can earn over 5 metric tons of carbon offsets, enough to offset an average Australian’s annual carbon emissions from vehicle use and household energy consumption.
Operating Benefit
Eco MasterCard cardholders can elect to dedicate half of the card’s 1 percent reward to purchasing carbon offsets and take the other half as "cash back." The "cash back" portion is automatically credited to the cardholder's monthly billing statement after Earth Day each year.
The environmental challenge
Environmental issues are a hot topic in Australia. At the Australia 2020 Summit held in April 2008, nearly 20 percent of respondents reported the environment was the “most important problem facing the country.”
As such, more and more Australians are looking for ways to reduce their personal impact on the environment. While methods such as recycling and water conservation are valuable, many people are looking for additional ways to make a positive change. For those motivated by their concern for the environment, understanding how carbon offsets work and making sure sources are reliable can be a challenge.
GE’s innovative solution
With the Australia eco Mastercard, GE Money offers a convenient way for cardholders to contribute to projects that offset carbon emissions just by making everyday purchases on their card.
The Australia eco Mastercard purchases credits from Origin's Carbon Reduction Scheme, one of Australia's leading energy companies with over 300,000 Green Energy customers. Cardholders can be certain that all of their carbon emissions reducing projects meet published and verified standards.
Environmental impact
For example, paying a mobile telephone bill of $70 per month for 12 months on the card earns carbon offsets more than the annual emissions of an average large screen LCD TV that is on for six hours per day. Spending $200 on the card earns carbon offsets equal to the emissions of approximately 500 Kilometres of driving by the average car on Australian roads.
