- On the heels of the latest Fed rate hike, credit card interest rates are at record highs.
- The average APR is now over 17 percent, according to CreditCards.com’s latest report.
- That means it’s time to aggressively pay down debt.
If you’re running up a tab on plastic, this could be a breaking point.
Just a little over a week after the Federal Reserve‘s latest quarter-point interest rate hike — the eighth such incerase in two years — credit card rates are near record highs.
The average credit card interest rate is now 17.01 percent, according to CreditCards.com’s latest report. That’s up from 16.15 percent one year earlier and 15.22 percent two years ago.
Most credit cards have a variable rate, which means there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark rate, and as interest rates rise, cardholders get squeezed. The central bank has also indicated there will be more rate hikes to come.
“Everyone in America should expect that their rates will be going higher for the foreseeable future,” said Rebecca Walser, a tax attorney and certified financial planner in Tampa, Florida.
www.cnbc.com/2018/10/09/credit-card-interest-rates-spike-post-fed.html