In support of the Sisters of Mercy’s Critical Concern of nonviolence, Mercy Investment Services uses our voice as a shareholder to press companies on their role in the gun violence epidemic. Most recently, Mercy Investment Services joined fellow investors asking credit card companies to implement a merchant category code (MCC) specifically for gun merchants, which would help detect suspicious firearms and ammunition sales to combat gun violence.
Last year, Visa, Mastercard and American Express announced they would adopt the International Organization for Standardization’s new MCC for gun sales. However, in March, the payment networks paused implementation as seven states banned the use of the new code, which creates a legal risk to the payment networks and customers. Mercy Investment Services is monitoring these developments and will continue dialogues with the companies.
Mercy Investment Services’ corporate engagements complement the Sisters of Mercy’s broader justice efforts related to gun violence. This spring, the Sisters of Mercy helped found Nuns Against Gun Violence, a coalition of Catholic sisters and their allies that affirms the value of human life through prayer, education and advocacy for commonsense, evidence-based gun violence prevention. More than 100 people attended Mercy’s offering of the coalition’s online vigil for National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange weekend on Friday, June 2. Click here to view the photos from the event.