Those of us who travel, know the importance of credit cards. They make exchanging money easier, purchases hassle-free and some provide a modicum of insurance in case of breakage or non-delivery of services. Everyone, whether traveling or in everyday life has to deal with credit card rates.
Here are the current rates courtesy of bankrate.com.
Credit Cards
Rates: 13.46 percent (standard fixed); 11.41 percent (standard variable)Average interest rates for purchases on credit cards idled this week. For all fixed-rate credit cards, the mean APR for purchases stayed at 12.34 percent. The average variable rate was 11.37 percent.
Standard-fixed rates averaged 13.46 percent for the 14th week straight and standard variable rates remained at 11.41 percent for the second consecutive week.
Revolving credit, which is mostly credit card debt, declined at an annual rate of 8 percent, to $905.6 billion, according to the September release of the Federal Reserve’s consumer credit survey. Americans have reduced their outstanding balances in this debt category for the past three quarters. Between June and July, revolving debt decreased by $6.1 billion.
Remember, when traveling in foreign countries, most credit cards add a foreign transaction fee of anywhere from 1 to 4 percent. Try to use a card that has no such fee. Capital One still does not impose a foreign transaction fee, nor do many smaller banks or credit unions cards. Also be aware of the high rates for pulling cash out of cash machines. Again different cards have different cash advance rates. Do your homework so that getting your own money doesn’t cost you 7 and 8 percent.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
