4 tips to get a lower credit card APR

Don't let your card's annual percentage rate balloon your balance

Man holding his head and looking shocked as he reads a piece of paper marked "Monthly Statement"
Credit card interest rates rose last month, pushing the average APR to 'just over 20%'
(Image credit: SI photography / Getty Images)

The savviest way to use a credit card is to pay off your balance in full each month, allowing you to avoid accruing interest on the charges you make. If you are not able to do that, you will end up paying interest — and depending on your credit card's annual percentage rate (APR), that can quickly start to balloon your balance.

This may be happening even more rapidly for some borrowers as of late, as credit card APRs have continually inched up. In June, "credit card interest rates rose for the third straight month," pushing the average APR to "just over 20%," said CNBC, citing data from Bankrate. And while usually a pause on rate hikes by the Federal Reserve would bode well for lowering credit card APRs, "some issuers said they'll keep those higher rates in place."

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Becca Stanek, The Week US

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.