At the end of the September ICCR meetings in New York, MMA hosted a one day summit to gather information on credit card industry practices and begin initial shareholder advocacy work. An invited group of nearly thirty people attended, representing a variety of church denominations and socially responsible mutual funds.

MMA sponsored two high-profile individuals to speak at this event – Dr. Robert Manning and Danny Schechter. Dr. Manning, author of Credit Card Nation, is considered one of the leading experts on the credit industry and is a frequently invited guest in Congressional hearings and media interviews. Mr. Schechter recently produced the documentary In Debt We Trust, which takes a critical look at credit card industry practices.

During the summit, the speakers exposed ways in which credit card companies target customers and documented some of their most egregious predatory practices. Credit card debt has reached an all time high in the US, while the most financially vulnerable people are subject to increasingly high interest rates and fees. Current practices have led to large short-term profits for the credit card industry, but have caused financial ruin for many people and may prove to be unprofitable in the long term.

MMA believes that credit card practices entail both moral and economic dimensions and is committed to being at the forefront of efforts to promote better policies. Next steps for shareholder work in this area include making informational inquiries of companies, developing a set of best practices, crafting shareholder resolutions that are able to withstand SEC scrutiny, and building a grassroots element to increase visibility.