Why is Citibank Giving Cardholders Discounts on Shark Meat?

Update (7/23/10): More than 75 Change.org readers petitioned Citibank Singapore to stop offering cardholders discounts on shark meat. In fewer than 24 hours, the company responded and agreed to cancel the promotion. Get the full story here.

Most credit card companies offer holders incentives for using their services — a gift certificate here, some air miles there. The goodies are a big part of why folks across the globe are so hooked on buying stuff on credit. But for Citibank card holders in Hong Kong and Singapore, incentive programs take a hefty toll on the world's oceans.

As the New York Times' Green blog recently reported, Citibank Hong Kong ran a pretty egregious promotion this month, offering credit card holders a 15 percent discount on a shark fin and garoupa dinner at Maxim's Chinese Cuisine. The ad even went so far as to assure folks that the restaurant provides "an ample quantity of shark's fin." Citibank Singapore is also providing cardholders with a 15 percent-off offer at the Imperial Court Shark Fin's Restaurant, which dishes out shark fin and other seafood entrees.

But if the restaurants provide an ample quantity of fins, you can bet they also serve up a double-serving of oceanic destruction. A global appetite for sharks' fins and meat, especially in China, is causing the predators' populations to plummet. Every year, 100 million sharks are slaughtered, oftentimes through a brutal process known as "finning," where fishermen catch the fish, slice off its fins, then throw the living animal back into the water to die. The practice has become so ubiquitous that some species of shark have declined by as much as 99 percent. And when the ocean's top predators suffer huge losses like this, it has a ripple effect throughout marine ecosystems.

Citibank's shark fin offers caused a huge backlash on Facebook. After the company received a deluge of emails and comments, it withdrew its Hong Kong promotion last week. As the NYT reported, "Citibank is committed to managing our business in a manner that benefits society and the environment," the company said in a statement.

But despite the company's supposed commitment to the environment, Citibank's Singapore offer continues to run through the end of December. While Imperial Court Shark Fin's Restaurant does sell dishes other than shark, you can bet with a name like that, many customers visit the establishment for its shark fin soup.

If Citibank truly cared about the world's oceans, it would halt its Singapore promotion, too. The company gave into sustainable foodie demands once. Sign our petition asking Citibank to ditch its shark fin promotion in Singapore.

Photo credit: StormyDog via Flickr