No, this is not a gripe with Working Assets exactly.

I applied for their card many years ago in the days when I signed up for their long distance service. It was a way to give money I ordinarily would have to spend to an organization that supported progressive causes I believe in. That, they have done and continue to do.

I gave up Verizon wireless years ago and signed on to Credo Mobile for the same reasons. It certainly was not for the variety of phone choices as those are very limited. It was for the values and knowing they funneled money to pro-choice, pro-GLBTQ, pro-environment, etc. groups. I even round my bill up each month and pay extra willingly.

So why ditch their credit card?

When it first came out, the card was a way to give 1% to the causes without thinking about it. Their card servicer was some bank somewhere, I don’t remember who. Since then, bank ate bank ate bank. Think of the graphic with the little fishes being progressively eaten by bigger then bigger fishes.

Now, it is Bank of America that services their cards (even though the web site says FIA , whatever that is). BoA gives a whopping 10 cents per transaction to the causes no matter the dollar amount of the transaction. Big whoop. I’m sure it adds up to something but at this point I don’t care.

Being an active part of the 99% and with move your money day coming (tomorrow) I decided it was time to call WA for an explanation. Their web site gives phone number contacts for all of their products except that when you call the credit card number you get connected with Bank of America. No thanks.

So I e-mailed every contact for every service they sell asking to talk with someone about this. I gave my Credo Mobile cell phone number and waited. Didn’t have to wait long. A nice woman called me and we chatted. Long story short. They have no choice. No other bank card company offers “affinity” cards that will do what WA asks. They are sorry to be losing a long standing customer.    Sorry.    I asked whether or not this is an issue that they are discussing internally. Her reply was that they would be sorry to lose my business.

Of course they may think they will only be losing MY business. Now I’m a parish minister. I do have a pulpit. It is a small one,  I don’t serve a large congregation and even if I did, this is not an issue I can proclaim from the pulpit in that in my tradition we don’t tell people what to do. But I do have a much larger pulpit here.  One or two or ten of us canceling our credit cards with WA isn’t a big deal to them. They figure—just like the democratic party figures—where are we going to go?

I want to make them hear me—hear us. If the people who claim to support all the liberal values we do won’t even work on making another arrangement for their credit card, then who will listen to us? I kept hearing the words and tune to one of the best songs in the musical Ragtime, Make Them Hear You (this, I think,  should be the theme song of the Occupy movement, by the way).

Some time today while taking a break from sermon writing I plan to visit my local credit union and get the scoop on what they have to offer. TD Bank, our regular bank may wind up losing us too. They are not one of the evil ones but they, too keep buying up small local banks and eating them like candy.

I try hard to practice what I preach. It isn’t easy. This is the least I can do really. But if it is only me making this move from WA, ain’t nothing gonna happen to the system.  So I ask . . .  Anyone else? Can WE make them hear us?

Oh, and if Working Assets wants to have a further conversation after our rather unproductive one yesterday, they know how to find me—Deborah Mero, West Chester, PA. They can look it up in their records.

UPDATE:

Just got back from the local credit union. They have their own MasterCards which they service THEMSELVES! I almost couldn’t believe it. Perhaps WA could check out their local credit union and work out a deal 🙂