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January 08, 2009

CreditCards.com: Weekly Credit Card Rate Report

Austin, Texas -- Banks kept annual percentage rates on new credit card offers mostly unchanged this week, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report, even as regulators and economic reports continue to paint a sobering economic picture.

Of the nine credit card categories tracked by CreditCards.com, seven were unchanged, one category rose and one edged lower.   

Rates for card categories tracked by CreditCards.com are listed below:

Credit Card Rate Averages
	Avg. APR	Last Week	6 Month
Balance Transfer	10.46%	10.46%	10.13%
Low Interest	11.50%	11.50%	10.97%
Instant Approval	11.63%	11.63%	11.62%
Reward	12.06%	12.06%	11.95%
Bad Credit	12.15%	12.15%	11.09%
Airline	12.32%	12.33%	13.23%
Cash Back	13.07%	12.73%	11.55%
Student	14.56%	14.56%	15.06%
Business	16.41%	16.41%	10.46%
Source: CreditCards.com Updated: 01-08-09

Credit card issuers continued to be largely unresponsive to the Federal Reserve's mid-December interest rate cut. That meeting's minutes, released Tuesday, showed the Fed considering other options to reinvigorate the economy after lowering rates as far as it can.   

Those minutes also showed that the central bank "revised down sharply its outlook for economic activity in 2009," even as policymakers still anticipate a "moderate recovery" for 2010. Additionally, the Fed's outlook for employment worsened from its October meeting, with predictions calling for the unemployment rate to "rise significantly into 2010." That weak economic outlook appeared to be supported by the latest retail sales figures, which showed that retailers suffered poor December results.     

The CreditCards.com credit card rate survey is conducted weekly using offer data from the leading U.S. card issuers. Rate movement may be influenced by changes in the composition of offers tracked.

Introductory offer periods and regular interest rates vary with applicants’ credit quality and issuer risk-based pricing policies.

About CreditCards.com
CreditCards.com is a leading online credit card marketplace connecting consumers with multiple credit card issuers, including nine of the 10 largest in the United States, based on credit card transaction volume. CreditCards.com, http://www.creditcards.com, enables consumers to search for, compare and apply for more than 150 credit cards and offers credit card issuers an online channel to acquire qualified applicants.  

Contact:
CreditCards.com, Austin
Ben Woolsey, 512-996-8663, ext. 106
Director of Marketing

NOTE TO EDITORS: The information contained in this release is available for print or broadcast with attribution to CreditCards.com.

Source: CreditCards.com