Play all audios:
by SHEIRESA NGO November 11, 2014 ------------------------- If you’ve ever been late with a credit card payment, then you’re quite familiar with credit card penalty rates. A recent
CREDITCARDS.COM survey of 100 U.S. credit cards revealed the average credit card penalty rate dipped slightly from 28.60% to 28.45 in 2012. Penalty rates can cost you a fortune. Says
CreditCards.com, “…Consider a cardholder who carries a $4,000 balance on a card charging 11.82 percent–the average rate for those carrying a balance according to the Federal Reserve. At the
28.45 percent average penalty rate, the cardholder would have to pay an extra $665.20 in interest per year.” The survey found that 60 out of the 100 cards in the survey have some kind of
penalty interest rate. Other findings: * 28 cards had penalty annual percentage rates that were based on the prime rate plus a specific percent. * 32 cards calculate cardholders’ penalty
annual percentage rate based on their creditworthiness. * Just 23 credit cards revealed penalty rate information in the terms and conditions section. * Surprisingly, for 77 of the cards,
follow-up phone calls or a close review of the cardholder agreement were necessary in order to get a confirmation of the details of a penalty rate. Read the full report HERE.