CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report: Average card APR remains at 15.72 percent for second week

The average APR for new card offers remained unchanged this week, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report.

The average is comprised of 100 of the most popular credit cards in the country, including cards from dozens of leading U.S. issuers and representing every card category. Introductory (teaser) rates are not included in the calculation.

Rates for card categories tracked by CreditCards.com are listed below:

Credit Card Rate Averages

Avg. APR

Last week

6 months ago

National Average

15.72%

15.72%

15.18%

Low Interest

12.57%

12.57%

12.00%

Balance Transfer

14.99%

14.99%

14.41%

Business

13.64%

13.64%

13.12%

Student

13.92%

13.92%

13.42%

Cash Back

15.77%

15.77%

15.33%

Airline

15.74%

15.73%

15.13%

Reward

15.81%

15.80%

15.24%

Instant Approval

18.23%

18.23%

17.86%

Bad Credit

23.20%

23.20%

22.86%

Source: CreditCards.com

Updated: 4-19-2017

For the second week in a row, the national average APR remained at 15.72 percent — an all-time record.

Average rates are currently at their highest point since CreditCards.com began tracking rates in mid-2007. Thus, the average APR for the year has climbed to 15.52 percent. Before 2017, the highest APR CreditCards.com recorded was 15.29 percent. The average APR for 2016 was 15.18 percent.

Most issuers left rates unchanged this week; however, Chase just announced increases that will be reflected in next week’s report. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier credit card advertised a slightly higher APR in response to the Federal Reserve’s March 2017 quarter-point rate increase. But the change was too small to affect the national average.

The CreditCards.com credit card rate survey is conducted weekly, using offer data from leading U.S. card issuers’ websites. Introductory offer periods and regular interest rates will vary with applicants’ credit quality and issuer risk-based pricing policies.