Average Credit Card Interest Rate, Straight From the Fed

Two numbers get called "the average credit card rate," and they are not the same. The rate across all accounts, including cards paid in full that never accrue interest, and the rate on accounts actually carrying a balance. The second one is the number that matters if you are in debt, and it is the higher of the two. Both come from the Federal Reserve's G.19 consumer credit release, charted below through 2026-02-01.

The rate history since 2000

Card rates spent two decades in the 12 to 15 percent range, then rode the Federal Reserve's post 2022 tightening to record territory above 20 percent, where they have largely stayed even as other rates eased. The gap between the two lines is the paid-in-full effect: people who carry balances pay the top line.

What 21.52 percent does to a balance

At the current average rate on interest-bearing accounts, a $5,000 balance accrues roughly $1,076 in interest over a year if nothing is paid down, and minimum payments barely outrun the accrual. That math is why payoff order and rate reduction dominate every debt strategy: run your own numbers in the payoff calculator, and if the total load is unsustainable relative to income, the DTI calculator will say so bluntly.

About this data

The Federal Reserve's G.19 release reports average rates on commercial bank credit card plans quarterly, in two series: all accounts, and accounts assessed interest (balance carriers). Total revolving consumer credit, mostly card balances, is reported monthly. This page refreshes from FRED when the Fed publishes; figures shown are the latest available as of 2026-07-02.

Sources: FRED TERMCBCCINTNS, FRED TERMCBCCALLNS, FRED REVOLSL (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, G.19 Consumer Credit).