Families can face all kinds of expenses, including the many related to raising children. It is not uncommon for families to turn to credit cards to help with these costs.
Many things can have major impacts on families that use credit cards. This includes the annual percentage rates of the cards they use. However, a recent survey indicates that many consumers are unaware of what their APRs currently are.
APRs dictate how much interest is charged on credit card balances. The current average APR is 16.71 percent. However, these rates vary greatly from card to card. Also, what APR a card has can change over time.
The recent poll asked a group of adults who had one credit card or more and who had carried a balance sometime over the past half year whether they for certain knew what their APRs were. Less than four of ten of these respondents, 39 percent, said that they did for all of their credit cards. Why do you think this number isn’t higher?
Why does it matter whether consumers know their APRs? When they don’t know this information, they don’t know how much having a credit card balance would cost them. This could increase their chances of inadvertently falling into a higher level of credit card debt than they expect and can handle.
So, staying informed of their APRs and other key details about the credit cards they use can be a very important step for families in keeping their credit card debt manageable.
Staying informed can also be critical for families when they end up with overwhelming credit card debt. Specifically, it can be important for such families to seek out information on what options they have for trying to get out from under such debt.
