If you have been expecting that all of the lower rates and all of the government bailout money was going to make your credit cards cheaper, perhaps you may need to rethink the scenario. The TARP and TALF money may have kept these from getting even higher, but banking institutions are actually still very concerned about the waves of unemployed borrowers out there and probably the waves of underemployed or leveraged borrowers on the streets as well. A report from CreditCards.com is showing how rates are not getting cheaper for borrowers, although this does not include the low “teaser” rates which many borrowers get when they sign up.
CARD SECTOR…… Avg.APR. Week Ago. 6Mo.Ago
National Average.. 12.35%… 12.00%… 11.38%
Instant Approval.. 11.49%… 11.29%… 11.58%
Balance Transfer… 11.52%… 11.18%… 10.08%
Bad Credit………… 11.79%… 11.79%… 10.87%
Low Interest……… 12.29%… 11.83%… 10.73%
We saw further gains in rates on rewards cards, cash back, and airline issue cards. The surprise was on the bad credit side, because it stayed flat from last week at 11.79% (up from 10.87% six months ago). But the other surprise was cards for students. That also stayed flat at 14.9% week over week and has only risen 0.24% over the last six months.
JON C. OGG
April 2, 2009
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