Credit cards are charging more 'excess' interest than ever, CFPB says

Credit card companies are hiking rates to record highs to pad their profits, according to a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

Credit card companies are hiking rates to record highs to pad their profits, according to a government report released Thursday.

The share of annual percentage rates (APR) that reflects what card companies charge beyond their own lending costs has nearly doubled in the last decade, an analysis by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finds. That cost borrowers an estimated $25 billion in 2023 alone, the watchdog agency said.

The average credit card APR has swelled from 22.8% in 2023 to about 12.9% in late 2013, according to the bureau. Those rates are at their highest level since the Federal Reserve started gathering data, and so are the profit margins credit card companies have generated from them.

The average APR margin — the share of interest rates card issuers charge beyond the “prime” rate, which generally covers their basic funding costs — has climbed to 14.3%, from 9.6% a decade ago, the CFPB report said.

The researchers estimated an average borrower with $5,300 in credit card debt would’ve paid at least an extra $250 last year thanks to that “excess” margin.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/credit-card-interest-rates-apr-cfpb-report-rcna139866

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