Average Credit Card APR Now Tops 15 Percent

[Newsjock]

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/01/03/ouch-average-credit-card-apr-now-tops-15-percent

We’ve started 2012 on a troubling financial note: credit card interest rates are hovering near record highs.

Two weeks ago, the average APR soared above previous records, hitting an average of 15.22%, about a quarter of a percentage point higher than the previous record set back in September. With credit card companies increasingly targeting riskier customers to rebuild market share lost during the recession, this could mean big bills for people who are less well-equipped to manage them.

... As TIME Moneyland pointed out back then, issuing banks were blaming the implementation of the Credit CARD Act of 2009 for the rate-creep. But it’s not as if lawmakers write bills that mandate higher rates. In fact, CARD Act authors specifically decided against capping the rates issuers can charge, over the objections of some consumer advocates.

The big difference is that the law put new limits on the circumstances under which credit card companies can raise APRs, leading companies to essentially charge higher interest at the outset.