With interest rates on some of these cards hovering around 30%, it's important to understand exactly what terms you're agreeing to if you sign up for one.
If you're offered a retail card at checkout, be sure to make sense of the fine print, not just the sales pitch.
There's more than just candy and seasonal goodies you might want to avoid at store checkouts this holiday season. Watch out for potentially expensive credit card offers, as well. Retailers typically ramp up their efforts each year during busy shopping months to get you to apply for a card, which might come with some sort of special financing, an upfront discount or rewards. Yet with interest rates on some of these cards hovering around 30%, it's important to know exactly what terms you're agreeing to when you sign up.
"This is something many of us will be offered during the upcoming holiday shopping season," said Ted Rossman, industry analyst at CreditCards.com. "But you don't want to grab one in the heat of the moment and have it end up damaging your finances."The average annual percentage rate — the interest rate plus any annual fees — for retail credit cards is a hair above 26%, according to new research from CreditCards.com.
Together, those types of accounts carried roughly $79.3 billion in outstanding balances at the end of July, according to Equifax research. That's about 9% of the total $868 billion in credit card debt shouldered by U.S. consumers overall, as measured by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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