Credit Cards
Rates: 13.59 percent (standard fixed); 10.78 percent (standard variable)
Interest rates on most types of credit cards inched higher this week. Fixed-rate cards offered an average purchase rate of 12.40, up 2 basis points from last week. The variable-rate average increased 6 basis points to 10.85 percent.
Fixed rates on standard cards scooted to 13.59 percent while the standard variable rate remained at 10.78 percent.
American households received 67 percent fewer credit card offers in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same period last year, according to Mail Monitor, the direct mail tracking service from market research firm Synovate. Of the 372.4 million offers people did receive, 27 percent were for cards with annual fees, up 9 percent from a year ago.
Some experts believe that issuers will bring back the annual fee in response to the recent passage of the Credit CARD Act of 2009.
If more issuers impose a fee on their cards, consumers may cut down the number of cards they carry and keep one or two, says Andrew Davidson, vice president of competitive tracking services for Synovate's Financial Services Group.
You can find your best credit card deal -- by type -- at Bankrate's interactive tool.
-- Ellen Cannon