Interest rates increasing on Credit Cards

12/08/2008

According to MoneyExpert, credit card issuers are raising the cost of interest rates with some hitting as much as 17.4% in July of this year.

Despite a number of cuts from the Bank of England this year, credit card rates have risen by 0.6% from 16.8% since February this year. To put a number to it, a high of over seventy-two credit cards now have interest rates of 17.9% and above in comparison to fifty-nine at the beginning of the year in February.
Even though a large number of credit cards have increased interest rates by a substantial amount, a few cards with low rates are still available.

“Homeowners have been the most visible losers in the credit crunch but credit card customers are also sharing the pain. Mortgage customers might complain about rates of six or seven per cent but for credit card customers the charges are much higher” said Sean Gardner, Director at MoneyExpert.

He continued to say that, “There is however still plenty of choice in the credit card market and a lot of competition. Customers paying higher rates on debts should review their credit card as a matter of urgency and switch.”