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For Immediate Release
December 19, 2002

Contact:
Meg Dempsey
(207) 828-7055
E-mail: jason@wolfenews.com

Jason Wolfe
(207) 775-5115

Web Site: http://www.tdbank.com/

Peoples Reducing Consumer Loan Interest Rates for Borrowers Who Educate Themselves About Credit

Peoples is the first Maine bank to become community partner with Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Maine

Peoples Heritage Bank is the first lending institution in Maine to offer a reduced interest rate on consumer loans to borrowers who successfully complete a national standardized financial education course offered through Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Maine.

Peoples is working as a community partner with CCCS of Maine to help encourage consumers to get more informed about credit and other financial matters. Statistics indicate that the more informed and educated the borrower, the lower the risk for the lender.

Borrowers who complete the 12-lesson, financial education program called "Credit When Credit is Due" (CWCID) can receive an interest rate reduction of .25 percent on all closed-end consumer loans at any of the more than 60 Peoples branches statewide.

For more information about the program, contact Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Maine at 1-800-439-2227, extension 106.

"For many consumers, knowledge is the key to getting out of financial difficulties, and to avoiding credit and spending issues to begin with," said Michael W. McNamara, president and CEO of Peoples. "We are trying to provide an incentive for customers to empower themselves so they can better evaluate options available to them and make fundamental decisions on how and when to use credit for their purchases."

Credit When Credit is Due is designed to help consumers understand what credit is, how credit risk is assessed, what the terminology used means, how to analyze the terms of a loan, how to budget for a purchase and how to use credit wisely.

CWCID can be taken in a classroom, at home through self-study, or a combination of both. Each of the 12 lessons is followed by a test, which is included with the book. CCCS of Maine grades the tests and informs the American Center for Credit Education (ACCE) that the student should be considered a graduate. Students then receive a registration card indicating that they have completed the course. The three major credit reporting agencies also receive confirmation and are asked to add a statement to individual credit reports.

Already, there are more than 28,000 graduates of the program in the U.S., with more than 1,000 new graduates being added monthly, according to the CCCS of Maine, a non-profit statewide organization established in 1971 to offer financial counseling, financial literacy education and debt management services to Mainers.

Credit When Credit is Due, based on author Paul Strassels' book by the same name, is endorsed by the Federal Reserve and has been accepted as a curriculum by the National Endowment for Financial Education. More than 170,000 books have been printed since the program was introduced. It is now also available in Spanish, audio, Braille and video.

The results of a survey by The Institute for Educational Leadership & Evaluation of those who completed the course show that the program is helping consumers become better managers of their personal finances. The independent evaluation of the program was commissioned by the American Center for Credit Education

Some significant findings include:
•Nearly 90 percent reported that they pay their bills on time now.
•More than 86 percent said they have developed more confidence about handling their money.
•The average age of those who participated was 39.1 years old, and ranged from 16 to 74 years of age.
•Females made up nearly 68 percent of the graduates.
•Sixty-nine percent of the respondents had one or more years of college or technical education. More than 8 percent had a masters or higher degree.
•The majority of respondents were Caucasian with 23.8 percent being of minority ethnicity.

"Credit and debt problems are not confined to one particular segment of the population," said Dawn B. Goddard, director of community outreach and development at CCCS of Maine. "But one thing is certain: education and information hold the key to helping many people find a solution. We are fortunate to have Peoples assisting us by providing an incentive for consumers to complete this valuable program and improve their financial outlook."

Peoples Heritage Bank is a Maine-based bank with more than 60 branches throughout the state, four of which operate as Oxford Bank & Trust, a division of the bank. For additional information about Peoples, visit online at www.peoplesheritage.com.
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