Credit Card Debt – The News Desk

Americans opened their wallets for holiday spending, defying fears of a pullback

26Dec

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Money

Americans opened their wallets for holiday spending, defying fears of a pullback

Shoppers weren't entirely tight fisted during the holiday season, despite the ongoing pressure of inflation on household budgets.U.S. retail sales grew 3.1% this holiday season, according to a Mastercard poll that tracks in-store and online retail sales. Spending on restaurants increased 7.8% from last year, while apparel and grocery-related purchases were up 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively, according to Mastercard. Robust consumer spending bodes well for the economy's present and future, according to Goldman Sachs. "We continue to see consumer spending as a source of strength in the economy and forecast above-consensus real spending growth of 2.7% in 2023 and 2.0% in 2024 in Q4/Q4 terms," economists with the investment bank said in a mid-December report.C...

1Nov

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Money

How it impacts your money

The Federal Reserve left its target federal funds rate unchanged for the second consecutive time Wednesday.Even so, consumers likely will get no relief from current sky-high borrowing costs.Altogether, Fed officials have raised rates 11 times in a year and a half, pushing the key interest rate to a target range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest level in more than 22 years. "Relief for households isn't likely to come soon, at least not directly in the form of a cut in the fed funds rate," said Brett House, economics professor at Columbia Business School.The consensus among economists and central bankers is that interest rates will stay higher for longer, or until inflation moves closer to the central bank's 2% target rate.What the federal funds rate means for youThe federal funds rate, which i...

Retail credit card interest rates rise to record highs, topping 30% APR

24Oct

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Money

Retail credit card interest rates rise to record highs, topping 30% APR

Ahead of holiday shopping season, credit card interest rates hit record highs Ahead of holiday shopping season, credit card interest rates hit record highs 03:49 Swipe-happy shoppers beware: Those enticing retail credit cards from your favorite merchants may put a bigger dent in your wallet than ever before. That's according to Bankrate's annual retail cards survey that shows the annual percentage rate (APR) on retail credit cards this year has hit a record high of 28.93% on average, u...

Credit card APRs are surging ever higher. Here’s how to get a lower rate.

6Oct

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Money

Credit card APRs are surging ever higher. Here’s how to get a lower rate.

Tracking the impact of interest rate hikes How rising interest rates are affecting Americans 04:58 Credit card interest rates have soared to levels usually reserved for people with severely damaged credit. Indeed, more than one in three cards carry annual percentage rates (APRs) of 29.99% or higher, according to an analysis by LendingTree. The average interest rate on a new credit card offer is up to 24.45% — the highest level since the o...

Republican lawmaker proposes 18% cap on credit card interest rates

13Sep

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Money

Republican lawmaker proposes 18% cap on credit card interest rates

Credit card companies should be barred from setting interest rates higher than 18%, a Republican lawmaker from Missouri proposed Tuesday. If passed, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley's bill — the Capping Credit Card Interest Rates Act — would also block credit card companies from introducing new fees aimed at evading the cap and penalize lenders with annual percentage rates (APRs) that exceed 18%. Hawley's bill comes as Americans are grappling with record-high credit card rates while carrying slightly more than $1 trillion in card debt. The average credit card rate has been inching toward 21% for the past three months and was 20.68% as of last week, making it more expensive for consumers to carry balances, according to Bankrate data. Hawley's office didn't imme...