The average annual percentage rate (APR) on UK credit cards has risen steadily over the last five years, despite the low base rate of interest.
While the Bank of England base rate has remained at 0.5% for the last five years, APR on credit cards has crept from an average of 16.71% in March 2009 to 18.46% at the end of January 2014, according to consumer group Which?.
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According to Which?, it’s last credit card customer satisfaction showed that existing customers had also suffered from rising APRs, with a fifth of cardholders saying their provider had increased the APR once or more in the past 2 years.
However, Which? also said that the maximum lengths for 0% deals for purchases and balance transfers have been increasing.
This means UK consumers can delay paying off the balance of their card for longer before they must start paying interest.
Which? said the market-leading 0% deal on purchases is now 18 months interest-free, compared to just 10 months in early 2009 and that the longest 0% balance transfer deal has increased from 15 months in March 2009 to 31 months.
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By GlobalData
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