Average credit card rate is 21.99%

16/07/2012

On average, the 15 million cards in the country are being hit with a 21.99 per cent interest fee. In the past 15 years, repayments have jumped 1,000 per cent from $125 million to $1.3 billion.

In comparison, interest rates on credit cards in Japan are about 3 per cent, while borrowers in Europe pay between 9 and 11 per cent for the convenience of instant cash.

A commercial law expert at UNSW's Australian School of Business, Michael Peters, said the dominance of the four big banks and GE Money led to the anomaly because they account for just under 70 per cent of cards used by Australians.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald