Heading into Holiday Season, Credit Card Rates Rise Again
Heading into Holiday Season, Credit Card Rates Rise Again
CLEVELAND, OH (PRWEB) November 22, 2005
With the unofficial holiday shopping season opening Friday, consumer credit card rates rose for the seventh straight week, according to the IndexCreditCards.com weekly Credit Card Monitor.
“Top-level” consumer credit cards averaged a 9.91% Annual Percentage Rate (APR), up from 9.87% last week and 9.51% seven weeks ago. IndexCreditCards.com uses “top-level” to describe Platinum or similarly designated credit cards that generally offer the lowest interest rates to eligible cardholders.
Consumer reward credit cards offered an average 11.23% APR, up from 11.19% last week and 10.75% seven weeks ago.
Student credit card rates increased to an average 14.98%, up from 14.96% last week and 14.72% seven weeks ago.
“While rates are still historically low, the trend is continuing upward,” says Justin McHenry, Research Director for IndexCreditCards.com. “Of course the worst time to see any rate increase is around the holidays, when people are most likely to revolve balances instead of immediately paying for all those gifts.”
Business credit card rates held steady this week, at an average 9.99% APR for top-level business cards and an average 11.74% for business reward cards.
“As always, these averages are based on the lowest rates published by the card issuers,” says McHenry. “If you don’t have excellent credit, add 2% to estimate the rate you would likely receive. If your credit is poor, count on even higher rates.”
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.
About IndexCreditCards.com
IndexCreditCards.com offers credit card news, research, and perhaps the most comprehensive index of credit cards available on the Internet today, with a master listing of over 500 credit cards as well as categorized lists based on interest rates, reward programs, business credit cards, student credit cards and credit cards for those with poor credit histories.
Credit Card Monitor is a weekly survey tracking average credit card rates in multiple card categories. Credit Card Monitor information provided in this release may be reproduced free of charge, provided credit is given to http://www.IndexCreditCards.com.
CONTACT: Justin McHenry, 216.221.0312
WEBSITE: http://www.IndexCreditCards.com
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