这是准备在德孤博文“
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@parker16 08/25/18
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The highest credit card interest rate in recent memory was 79.9% on a card offered by First Premier Bank in 2010. That offer’s not available anymore. The current highest credit card interest rate is 36%. That’s on the new First Premier Credit Card. The next highest credit card interest rate seems to be 29.99%, charged by the Total Visa Credit Card and the First Access Visa. These rates are very high when you consider that the average interest rate is only around 19%.
Legally, there actually is no highest credit card interest rate that’s possible. Credit card companies are allowed to charge any interest rate. But they must clearly state what that rate is in the card’s terms and conditions. And companies that would like to charge outrageous interest rates are limited by what people are actually willing to pay. You should always make sure you know a card’s interest rate before applying. Otherwise, it may come as a nasty surprise.
Here are the highest credit card interest rates:
Highest historical credit card interest rate: 79.9% on the old First Premier Bank Credit Card. This card is no longer available. It was for people with bad credit.
Highest current credit card interest rate: 36% on the new First Premier Bank Credit Card. The card is unsecured and for bad credit. It has an annual fee of $75 - $125 for the first year and $45 - $49 after. Plus, there’s a $95 one-time processing fee.
High current credit card interest rate: 29.99% on the Total Visa. The card is for bad credit. It has an annual fee of $75 for the first year and $48 after. It has an $89 one-time processing fee.
High current credit card interest rate: 29.99% on the First Access Visa. This card is for bad credit. It has an annual fee of $75 for the first year and $48 after. It has an $89 one-time processing fee.
As you can see, the highest credit card interest rates are found on cards for people with bad credit. The better your credit is, the better your chance of getting a lower interest rate. But don’t forget that no matter how high or low your interest rate is, it will never affect you unless you carry a balance between months. If you always pay off your bill in full, you’ll never pay any interest unless you take out a cash advance. So if you don’t spend beyond your means, interest rates shouldn’t be a huge consideration when you’re picking a credit card.
But if you’re not confident about your ability to pay in full, you should prioritize low interest rates in your search. Many cards will even offer you 0% interest for a number of months to start. But you’ll usually need at least good credit to get a 0% intro APR.
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HOW DO CREDIT CARDS MAKE MONEY?
After discovering that the same credit card companies who had been so eager to fund my foolish lifestyle were now not so willing to help me turn over a new leaf and live a frugal lifestyle, I began to look at the cold, hard reality of how credit cards make money. Credit card companies have a number of ways of making money, which include:
Fees (annual fees, over-the-limit fees, late fees, cash-advance fees)
Interest on the revolving debt we carry with them
A cut of the purchase price from the merchants we make our purchases from (ranges from 1 – 4 percent per purchase)
Commission from selling cardholders’ names to others so more people can hawk their cards and wares at us
Credit card companies make a lot of money. Total revenue for the credit card industry was nearly $155 billion in 2011. That’s even with the weak economy driving credit card spending down among consumers. In 2010, credit card companies made nearly $164 billion off revenue from credit card accounts. Credit card companies made over $20 million from fees in 2009.
Since the Credit CARD act went into effect a few years ago, that figure has fallen by a stunning $500,000. Now, what you may know that I didn’t at that time, is that credit card debt is unsecured debt.
That means there is little that credit card companies can legally do to get their money back if a cardholder refuses to pay off charges they’ve made with that company’s money. You don’t get that feeling though, if you stop making your payments.
