E-mail from Daniel Mintz at Move-On.org:
As the tragedy in Haiti unfolds, Americans are generously donating millions of dollars to aid organizations.
But when Americans donate to charity with their credit cards, the credit card companies get rich. In some cases they keep 3% of the donation as a “transaction fee,” even though that’s far more than it costs them to process the donation.
It’s outrageous and wrong—and it needs to stop.
Can you sign this petition to the CEOs of the major credit card companies demanding that they waive their processing fees for all charitable donations? Clicking here will add your name:
http://pol.moveon.org/nofees/o.pl?id=18607-5763840-FH68Wgx&t=3
The petition says: “Credit card companies shouldn’t be getting rich off of Americans’ generosity. They should waive all fees on charitable contributions from today on.”
The credit card companies are trying to get ahead of this story, announcing they will temporarily waive the fees they charge on some Haiti-related charitable contributions for the next 6 weeks. But that’s nowhere near enough. Many emergency donations to Haiti will still get hit with hefty bank fees. (To give a sense of how limited the exemption is, Doctors Without Borders isn’t on any of the publicly available lists of charities that won’t be charged fees.)2
All American credit card companies should announce that they will waive ALL fees on charitable contributions, starting today, and going forward for good. This isn’t about helping political organizations like MoveOn, just helping true charitable organizations.
It’s the right thing to do, and honestly, it’s the least they could do after the role they played in crashing the entire global economy last year.But they won’t do it unless they know how angry Americans are that they’re profiting off of this terrible tragedy. Click here to sign the petition, which we’ll deliver to the heads of the major credit card companies:Thanks for all you do.–Daniel, Kat, Peter, Lenore, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “As Wallets Open For Haiti, Credit Card Companies Take A Big Cut,” The Huffington Post, January 14, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86028&id=18607-5763840-FH68Wgx&t=62. “Some Card Fees Waived for Haiti Aid,” The New York Times, January 14, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86030&id=18607-5763840-FH68Wgx&t=7Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Stumble It!
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 