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Friday, February 6, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Consumer group joins credit drive
By PEGGY O'BRIEN
Staff writer
A Lawrence consumer watchdog agency has joined a national campaign to drive down high credit card interest rates.
The Lawrence Consumer Affairs Association, 819 Vermont St., has joined which officials call a nationwide campaign to force big banks to lower their interest rates because they are non-competitive.
The "Fight and Switch" campaign urges credit card holders to fight high interest rates by switching to cards with lower rates.
A report published by the Lawrence Consumer Affairs Association states that Kansans who carry a charge balance forward each month can save between $15 and $25 on their monthly credit card costs if they look for a bank that offers credit cards with lower rates.
The report also says many large banks have been allowed to overcharge because they don't advertise their interest rates or don't clearly disclose the rates they charge on pre-approval applications.
The agency reported that one-third of all credit cards in the country were issued by only 12 banks.
market by only The campaign has two goals, said Clyde Chapman, director of the Consumer Affairs Association. The first is to educate consumers to shop around for lower credit card rates.
The second is to instill some competition between the big banks that
offer service to most credit card users.
Chapman said that because graduating students soon may be applying for credit cards, they needed to shop around for the cards with the lowest rates.
minding his students need to be responsible and pay attention to what's going on." Chapman said.
lowest rates.
As graduation approaches, banks go after students who will soon be out making money, he said.
The agency's report outlines three ways that consumers can fight back. Those include switching to credit cards with lower interest rates and refinancing high-interest debts on present cards with cash advances from lower interest rate cards.
Consumers also can lobby for legislation to support capped interest rates and improve the information security charges disclosed in advertisements.
"If large banks see that they are losing credit card bank customers to banks with lower rates, it will force them to do something," Chapman said.
The report states that although the prime lending rate has gone down in the last five years, making money cheaper to borrow for car loans, home mortgages, certificates of deposit and money market and other consumer accounts, credit card interest rates have remained high.
"It affects students, Lawrence residents and Kansans," Chapman said.
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