Consumer Credit Card Rates Steady Ahead of Fed Meeting

Consumer Credit Card Rates Steady Ahead of Fed Meeting
Credit card rates remained steady this week,
but a looming Federal Reserve interest rate hike is expected
to send rates higher again in the near future, according to
the weekly IndexCreditCards.com Credit Card Monitor. Ben Bernanke
and the Federal Open Market Committee are expected to raise
rates by another quarter-point at their June 28th/29th meeting,
which will result in identical hikes for most credit cards with
variable-rate pricing.

The average interest rate for consumer credit cards with no
rewards remained at 13.98% this week. (For those with excellent
credit, the average rate is 11.08%.)

The
average reward credit card rate ticked up ever so slightly,
to 15.44%, from 15.41%. For those with excellent credit, the
average rate increased to 13.02, from 13.00% previously.

Student
rates remained at an average rate of 16.21%.

Business
credit cards took a jump this week. The average non-reward business
credit card rate increased to 11.80% this week, up from 11.74%
previously, while business credit cards with rewards increased
to an average rate of 13.74%, from 13.71%.

Financial institutions represented in the survey include Advanta,
American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi,
Discover, MBNA, National City, Providian, Pulaski Bank, U.S.
Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo and more.