ANCHOR LEAD
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO CUT YOUR CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES IN FIVE MINUTES OR LESS? SOUND IMPOSSIBLE? NOT ACCORDING TO A NATIONAL SURVEY. SCOTT HANSON GIVES US A HEADS UP ON WHAT YOU CAN DO TO DEFLATE YOUR RATE.

NAT SOT Length :01
(NAT SOT)

SOT
KEY @ :02 Jaime Stein, Credit Card Customer
"It would definitely be useful to lower my interest rate."

NAT SOT Length :01
(NAT SOT)

SOT
KEY @ :05 Michele Lewis, Credit Card Customer
"I would like to at least get it down to 12 or 13."

TRACK ONE Length :10
LOWERING THAT RATE MIGHT BE EASIER THAN MICHELE THINKS! IN A NATIONAL SURVEY, FIFTY-SIX PERCENT OF THE PARTICIPANTS LOWERED THEIR INTEREST RATES IN JUST ONE FIVE MINUTE PHONE CALL.

SOT
KEY @ :20 Steve Blackledge, PIRG
"We had a few people who were able to lower their interest rate by fifteen percentage points."

TRACK TWO Length :07
BUT CAN A PHONE CALL REALLY DEFLATE YOUR RATE? SEVEN VOLUNTEERS CALLED THEIR CREDIT COMPANIES TO FIND OUT!

SOT
KEY @ :31 Neville Mattis, Credit Card Customer
"I was wondering if you could help me in lowering my interest rate."

TRACK THREE Length :04
THERE WERE CERTAIN TACTICS THAT SEEMED TO GET RESULTS...LIKE DON'T TAKE "NO" FOR AN ANSWER...

SOT
"They don't lower interest rates upon request. I'm on hold for a supervisor."

TRACK FOUR Length :06
MICHELE REDUCED HER RATE BY 4 POINTS BECAUSE SHE WAS PERSISTANT AND CITED HER HISTORY AS A GOOD CUSTOMER...

SOT
"I've been given the higher credit line several times."

SOT
"And I've never been late, I've been on time."

TRACK FIVE Length :06
BUT THAT DIDN'T WORK FOR SUSAN WHO THREATENED TO CANCEL... A TACTIC THAT EXPERTS SAY SELDOM GETS YOU RESULTS.

SOT
"Well then, you know what, I'd like to close out this account."

TRACK SIX Length :09
BEFORE DOING THAT, YOU MAY WANT TO MAKE ONE FINAL OFFER...SUGGESTING A FIXED INTEREST RATE AROUND THE PRIME. AND AS LAST RESORT YOU CAN ALWAYS BEG.

SOT
"Go a little lower...PLEASE!!!"

TRACK SEVEN Length :06
DID IT WORK? YOU BET IT DID! SANDRA LOWERED HER RATE BY OVER EIGHT POINTS IN JUST FIVE MINUTES!

SOT
"I'm super happy!!!" (laughs)

TRACK EIGHT/STANDUP Length :10
THE SURVEY SAYS NOT EVERYONE WILL BE ABLE TO LOWER THEIR RATES... ALL TOGETHER. FIVE OF OUR SEVEN VOLUNTEERS REDUCED THEIR'S BY OVER 22 POINTS. FOR HEADS UP, I'M SCOTT HANSON.

ANCHOR TAG
ONE OTHER TIP, IF YOU THREATEN TO CANCEL THE CARD, DON'T BLUFF...YOU'LL HAVE TO FOLLOW THROUGH. AND, IF YOUR CARD HAS AN ANNUAL FEE, YOU MIGHT TRY TO SAVE MONEY BY ASKING THE CARD COMPANY TO LOWER IT.

SOURCE LIST

Steve Blackledge
Public Interest Research Group
(916) 448-4516 ext. 108
cell (916) 208-5264

Mr. Blackledge is the Consumer Advocate and Legislative Director for CalPIRG. State PIRGs were created by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) as watchdogs for the public interest. To view the entire Deflate Your Rate survey, head to:

http://www.masspirg.org/reports/deflatereport.pdf