CreditCards.com: Credit Card Rate Report

Business Wire, March 1, 2007

NEW YORK -- Rates on low-interest consumer credit cards remained relatively flat this week with an average regular annual percentage rate (APR) of 11.76%, according to CreditCards.com. Low-interest credit cards continue to be the most popular card category among U.S. consumers.

The average regular APR for all of the major credit card categories were as follows:

CREDIT CARDS                                <  <  <



                                            <  <  <


Avg. APR
Student                                     <  <  <


18.16%
Cash Back                                   <  <  <


14.14%
Airline                                     <  <  <


13.88%
Business                                    <  <  <


13.94%
Instant Approval                            <  <  <


13.61%
Balance Transfer                            <  <  <


11.37%
Low Interest                                <  <  <


11.76%
For Bad Credit                              <  <  <


17.20%
Reward                                      <  <  <


13.69%
                                            <  <  <



Source: CreditCards.comUpdated: 02-28-2007  <  <  <

While credit card rates have remained relatively constant in the last week, average rates are lower than last summer, when the Fed last raised the prime lending rate. This trend appears to be in part driven by the introduction of new single-digit APR credit card products by several of the nation's top issuers.

The exception to the overall lower APR trend in the past year has come in the airline credit card category, where aggressive free introductory mileage offers as high as 25,000 miles have been coupled with higher APRs.

CreditCards.com's national weekly credit card rate survey is conducted each Wednesday from data representing the leading credit card issuers in the United States.

Annual fees, introductory offer periods, reward features and approval requirements of specific products vary depending on individual applicant's credit and issuer pricing policies.

About CreditCards.com

CreditCards.com operates a free credit card comparison website, located at www.CreditCards.com, where consumers can examine various offers side by side and apply for credit cards from the nation's leading issuers. The cards are organized by major category (low interest, airline, student, cash back and others), with dynamic daily updating of credit card offers, rates and features. CreditCards.com's mission is to provide a full range of card choices, news articles and features -- all designed to help consumers make informed choices about their credit cards.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The information contained in this release is available for print or broadcast with attribution to CreditCards.com.