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A look at credit card interest rate increases

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The Associated Press 3:46 PM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

House Democrats say the change is needed because lenders are raising rates ahead of the Feb. 22 deadline. President Barack Obama signed the bill May 22.

A study last week by Pew Charitable Trusts' Safe Credit Cards Project compared interest rates being charged last December with rates in July. It found:

—The lowest interest rates offered on most bank cards jumped by more than 20 percent.

—Discover's lowest rate rose by 3 percentage points, from 9.99 to 12.99 percent.

—Capital One's lowest rate also went up by almost 3 percentage points.

—Bank of America, USAA and Target increased rates by 2 percentage points.

—The highest interest rates offered on most bank cards rose by 13 percent.

—Bank of America advertised a 14.99 percent rate in December, which rose by 3.25 points to 18.24 percent in July.

— Almost all contracts allowed banks to raise interest rates on outstanding balances at anytime — up from 93 percent in December 2008.

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On the Net:

www.pewtrusts.org/creditcards

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November 04, 2009 08:42 PM EST