Credit card interest rates see 1st drop of 2011
Credit card interest rates declined this week for the first time in nearly three months. But it’s not all good news for consumers, as card offers for applicants with poor credit continue to be costly.
The national average annual percentage rate (APR) on new credit card offers dipped to 14.66 percent on Wednesday, according to CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report. The decline – by nearly a tenth of a percentage point – pushed the national average to its lowest level since mid-December.
The weekly average for five of the nine card categories also changed this week. However, the change was largely caused by updates to our database, not by recent APR changes. We updated five of the nine categories in the CreditCards.com database this week in order to better reflect recent changes to banks' promotional offers. As a result, the average APR for most categories has changed. For example, Bank of America eliminated balance transfer offers for several cards recently, so those cards were removed from the balance transfer category in our database -- causing the average APR for that category to decline.
This week's drop in the national average, in turn, was spurred by a noteworthy card change from First Premier . First Premier temporarily discontinued its First Premier Gold card – which featured a 59.9 percent APR – and replaced the Gold card with a secured card with a 49.9 percent APR. We then replaced the Gold card with the secured card in our CreditCards.com database, and the difference between the cards' APRs pushed the national average lower for the first time in 2011.
Brenda Bethke, a spokeswoman for First Premier, said by e-mail, "Premier Bankcard continues to test, review and analyze different offers to understand consumer acceptance and account performance under the regulations" of the Credit CARD Act of 2009.
Bethke did not elaborate on why the First Premier Gold card was temporarily taken off the market. However, over the past year, the card has repeatedly come under fire from consumer advocates for its extraordinarily high APR, and it is regularly cited by consumer advocates as one of the worst cards in the country. Before the CARD Act sharply limited the fees it could charge, it had boasted an APR as low as 9.99 percent. After the law went into effect, they soared as high as 79.9 percent.
A Few Tips When It Comes To Using Balance Transfer Credit Cards To ...
Do you know how much you pay in interest every year? If you are like the majority of credit card account users, then you don’t pay attention to such issues. In accordance with the research, the average consumers with credit debt of $1,000 have to pay more than $140 a year. Are you impressed by this figure? And then imagine those people whose debt is about $10,000… How much will they have to pay in interest charges? There is no doubt that for many credit card account users $1,400 a year on interests can be a large amount of money. If you are tired of charge card account debt and you want to get rid of it, take advantage of 0% APR balance transfer charge card accounts and you will be able to solve this problem.
When looking for a new plastic, the most desirable feature is low annual percentage rate on purchases and on balance transfers. Zero interest rates come as an additional incentive to good credit card offers. However, cardholders getting a charge card account with zero annual percentage rate don’t make the most of the introductory rates. Meantime, there are many situations when such credit cards can be rather helpful for you.
It is a well-known fact that balance transfers plastics are considered to be the solution for consumers who struggle with charge card account debts. As a rule, such cards can offer you from 6 to 12 months of interest-free period during which you will be able to pay off your credit debt and save a pretty penny in interests.
So, imagine that you have got a plastic with 0% introductory rates on both balance transfers and on purchases. Having this card, you will be able to save money no matter whether you will use it for balance transfers or for purchases.
Usually, charge card experts don’t recommend to use balance transfer charge card accounts for making purchases. There are cases when customers misuse balance transfer credit cards, because they forget which plastic gives the lowest rate on purchases and use a balance transfer plastic instead. But if you have a credit card account that offers 0% APR on balance transfers and on purchases, then you will be able to save money making different purchases with this plastic.
In general, 0% annual percentage rate balance transfer credit card accounts give you a chance to pay off your credit card account debt faster. However, as well as other types of plastics they have some pitfalls. So, use common sense with credit cards and avoid serious financial troubles.
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