New Year Brings Higher Consumer Credit Card Rates

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New
Year Brings Higher Consumer Credit Card Rates
Average credit card interest rate rises to 12.63%
Average
consumer credit card rates jumped in all categories this week.
Several card issuers applied increases on their variable-rate
cards, while others repriced cards heading in to the new year,
according to the weekly IndexCreditCards.com Credit Card Monitor.
The average credit card rate for standard, non-reward credit
cards is currently 12.63%, up from 12.58% last week. The average
rate for consumer credit cards with rewards jumped to 13.80%,
from 13.64%. For consumers with the very best credit, these
averages are 10.11% and 11.52%, respectively.
The average student credit card rate jumped to 15.25%, up from
15.18% last week.
Among the changes affecting the averages this week were quarter-point
increases on variable-rate cards from Chase, and changes to
the pricing structure of Wachovia credit cards.
While consumers saw rates continue to rise, business credit
cards were stable, with an average 11.33% rate for standard
cards and 13.21% for business reward credit cards. However,
the average business card interest rate had jumped significantly
the previous week, mainly due to repricing of most Chase business
credit cards.
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.
Disclaimer:The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
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Published (Modified )