Swiping Your Way To Debt?

ANCHOR LEAD IN:
THERE'S NO QUESTION THE PLASTIC MOST OF US CARRY IN OUR WALLETS
WILL GET A GOOD WORKOUT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON… ESPECIALLY SINCE
IT'S EASIER THAN EVER TO JUST SWIPE AND GO. BUT NOW EXPERTS WARN THAT
CONVENIENCE CAN BREAK YOUR BUDGET. _____ EXPLAINS

TRACK ONE Length: 05
CRISTINA COPE ALMOST ALWAYS SWIPES HER DEBIT CARD… NO MATTER HOW SMALL THE PURCHASE.

NAT SOT Length: 01
"Ok. Thank you"

SOT
KEY @ : 11 Cristina Cope, Swipes to Pay
"Regularly I get my dry cleaning. If I go get coffee on the way home from work, or going to the grocery store just to pick up a spare item."

TRACK TWO Length:08
SOURCE: Cardratings.com
CHRISTINA'S NOT ALONE. MORE OF US THAN EVER BEFORE ARE USING CREDIT
AND DEBIT CARDS NOT JUST FOR BIG TICKET ITEMS, BUT FOR TINY TRANSACTIONS AS WELL.

SOT
KEY @ : 24 Linda Sherry, Consumer Action
"Credit card companies really think that there's a new market out there of people who just convenience users, who don't have cash in their pockets a lot."

TRACK THREE Length: 17
SOURCE: Cardratings.com
IN FACT, A RECENT SURVEY ESTIMATES CUSTOMERS USING VISA-BRANDED CARDS ALONE…WILL BUY 60- BILLON DOLLARS WORTH OF LOW-TICKET ITEMS THIS YEAR … THAT'S ELEVEN TIMES
MORE THAN IN 2000.

CONSUMER ACTION'S LINDA SHERRY SAYS PEOPLE TEND TO LOSE TRACK OF ALL THEIR LITTLE PURCHASES…AND THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS.

SOT
KEY @ : 50 Linda Sherry, Consumer Action
"They add up quickly and at the end of the month you can have this very unexpectedly high bill."

TRACK FOUR Length: 02
OR YOU COULD DRAIN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT…

SOT
KEY @ : 1:00 Cristina Cope,
Swipes to Pay
"I tend to think I actually might spend more using my debit card. If I had to go get cash I would be less likely to do it for like a 2 or 3 dollar purchase. "

TRACK FIVE Length:09
SOURCE: Consumer Action
EXPERTS SAY AN INCREASING NUMBER OF COMPANIES ALLOW YOU TO SWIPE
WITHOUT SIGNING FOR PURCHASES LESS THAN 25 DOLLARS. SO IT'S EASY TO OVERSPEND. CRISTINA AGREES.

SOT
KEY @ : 1:20 Cristina Cope, Swipes to Pay
"When you can just throw your card down and you don't have to think about it as much, but when you pull a bill out of your, you know, wallet, it's more significant, it seems more real."

TRACK SIX Length: 04
BUT VISA'S NIKI MANBY SAYS SWIPING THE SMALL STUFF HAS BENEFITS.

SOT
KEY @ : 1:26 ( SHORT) Niki Manby, Senior Vice President of Product Innovation,
Visa USA
"It's more convenient, more secure."

TRACK SEVEN Length: 05
AND SHE SAYS, YOU CAN EARN REWARDS POINTS BY SWIPING. BUT SHERRY SAYS, JUST BE CAREFUL.

SOT
KEY @ : 1:35 Linda Sherry,Consumer Action
"Using this card for every little thing could definitely bust your budget."

TRACK EIGHT Length: 04
BOTTOM LINE- WATCH HOW YOU SWIPE AND SPEND … THAT'S WHAT CRISTINA'S
DOING.

SOT
NO KEY
"You have to pay vigilant attention to and, you know, check your statements all the time and keep aware of your balance and your account."

ANCHOR TAG:
SHERRY SAYS IF YOU KNOW YOU'RE A GOOD MONEY MANAGER AND PAY YOUR
CARDS OFF EVERY CYCLE, USING A CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD FOR ALL YOUR
PUCHASES CAN BE HELPFUL… ESPECIALLY IF YOUR BANK SEPARATES OUT ALL YOUR TRANSACTIONS INTO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES. THEN YOU CAN EASILY SEE JUST HOW MUCH YOU SPEND ON THINGS AND THAT CAN ACTUALLY HELP YOU STICK TO YOUR BUDGET.

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Linda Sherry
Consumer Action
1000 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Unit 511
Washington DC
202-544-3088

Linda Sherry is the Director of National Priorities for Consumer Action, a non-profit group that focuses on consumer rights and advocacy in areas ranging from phone services, to credit cards, and banking.

Niki Manby
Visa
PR Contact:
Emily Collins
Fleishman-Hillard
415-318-4106

Niki Manby is the Senior Vice President of Product Innovation at Visa USA. She says they're seeing more and more people charging and debiting items under $25. Manby says using credit cards for these small purchases is a huge convenience for consumers.