Credit Cards
Rates: 13.46 percent (standard fixed); 10.80 percent (standard variable)
Fixed interest rates on credit cards dropped, while variable rates increased slightly. The mean purchase rate on fixed-rate cards declined 14 basis points to 12.26 percent. On variable-rate cards, the average purchase APR crept to 10.88 percent.
Rates on standard-fixed cards decreased 13 basis points to 13.46 percent, while standard-variable cards moved up 2 basis points to 10.80 percent.
The national delinquency rate on bank-issued credit cards jumped to 1.32 percent for the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 9.1 percent since the previous quarter, according to TransUnion, a Chicago-based credit reporting firm. Delinquencies have climbed 11 percent year-over-year from 1.19 percent. Accounts that were 90 days or more past due counted as delinquent.
TransUnion predicts the delinquency rate could rise to 1.7 percent by the close of 2009.
Average bank-card debt owed per borrower edged up 0.82 percent to $5,776 from $5,729 for the previous quarter and grew by 4.09 percent compared to first quarter 2008.
You can find your best credit card deal -- by type -- at Bankrate's interactive tool.
-- Leslie McFadden