What Is Discover Credit Card Interest Rate

How To Avoid Paying Interest

With most credit card balances, you can avoid interest by paying the full balance listed on your credit card statement each month on or before the due date. With certain balances, such as cash advances and balance transfers, it isnt so easy to avoid paying interest because those balances dont have a grace period. In that case, your best option is to minimize your interest charges by paying your balance off quickly.

The more you understand your credit card interest rate, the better you can use your card to your advantage and save money on interest in the long run.

How And When Is Credit Card Interest Charged

Eric is a duly licensed Independent Insurance Broker licensed in Life, Health, Property, and Casualty insurance.;He has worked more than 13 years in both public and private accounting jobs and more than four years licensed as an insurance producer.;His background in tax accounting has served as a solid base supporting his current book of business.

Most people aim to keep their credit card cost at $0, especially rewards credit card users who work to optimize their credit card perks. Getting a credit card with no annual fee is a start at minimizing credit card costs. However, if you carry a balance, you could still incur a cost in the form of interest. Knowing how and when credit card interest is charged is the best way to avoid paying interest and keep your credit card free.

Your credit card issuer will charge interest whenever you carry a balance beyond the;grace period. Credit card interest isn’t a one-time thing either. Each month you carry a balance over from the previous month, youll have a finance charge added to your balance.

You won’t be charged interest if a 0% promotional rate applies to your balance.

Discover It Student Chrome

Great for: College commutes

The Discover it® Student chrome is a flat-rate rewards student credit card ideal for commuting students who want to build credit and earn rewards. It offers 2% cash back on up to $1,000 in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each quarter — no activation necessary — plus 1% cash back on everything else.

Read the fullDiscover it® Student chromereview

Recommended Reading: Why Is Google Services Charging My Credit Card

What Is The Best Discover Credit Card

The best Discover credit card is subjective, and it will depend on what you want out of your card. That said, the Discover it® Cash Back is likely the most popular Discover card thanks to its high rewards rate and rotating bonus categories. All of Discover’s cards come with no annual fees and charge a 0% foreign transaction fee. Additionally, every Discover card earns some kind of rewards. With that in mind, you really can’t go wrong no matter which card you pick.

What Youll Find On All Discover Cards

Several years ago, the Discover Card unified all of its products under the âDiscover itâ brand, which is essentially a platform for all of its personal and small business cards. These cards share many of the same features and benefits including no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees and no penalty fee on your first late payment.

Discover it cards offer cash back rewards, and all cards are eligible to receive the Cashback Match at the end of your first year. Other benefits include access to your free Credit Scorecard with your FICO® Credit Score, as well as a suite of tools to help prevent fraud and identity theft.

You can use your Discover card to receive cash at checkout from a number of major retailers, without incurring cash advance fees or paying a higher interest rate. On the other hand, the Discover card no longer offers many benefits that you might be accustomed to receiving from your credit card, such as rental car insurance, purchase protection and extended warranty coverage.

Read Also: How To Get Someone’s Credit Card Info

Ways To Pay Less In Credit Card Interest

There are a few ways you can pay less in interest charges. For example, if you have a good credit score you may qualify for a card with a lower interest rate. And a credit card with a low interest rate can help you keep interest costs down if you carry a balance.;

Here are a few other ways to pay less in interest:

• Pay your balance in full every billing cycle. Paying your balance in full every billing cycle can help you pay less in interest than if you carry over your balance month after month. But if you canât pay your balance in full, the CFPB recommends paying as much as possible. As the CFPB explains, âThe higher the balance you carry from month to month, the more interest you pay.â
• Pay as soon as possible. You donât have to wait until the end of the billing cycle to make a payment. Paying earlier or more than once a month may help reduce interest charges if youâre carrying a balance and not paying your full balance off each month.
• Use a credit card with a 0% introductory rate. If you need to apply for credit, you could consider applying for a credit card with a 0% introductory APR on purchases. Just make sure you know when the promotional period ends. At that point, the APR will increase from 0% to the standard APR disclosed in the cardâs terms.

It doesnât take a math formula to see that credit card interest charges can become expensive.;

What Is My Credit Card Interest Rate

Your credit card purchases are subject to a standard interest rate called the Annual Percentage Rate, or APR. This number will vary from card to card and person to person depending on factors such as credit scores. Your APR is expressed in terms of a year, but credit card companies use it to calculate charges over your monthly statement period. So just like miles per hour is a way of measuring speed over an hour, . But in both cases, the measurement can still be used for longer or shorter time periods.

Don’t Miss: How To Use Stolen Credit Card Online

How To Compare Discover Credit Cards

When you compare credit card offers from Discover, it will come down to two main factors:

• Your credit score
• Your rewards needs

If you have good credit, you’ll want to focus more on the type of rewards you want to earn. You’ll need to decide if you want rotating bonus categories with a higher rewards rate or static bonus categories at a slightly lower rate.

If you need to build credit, you have a few choices. College students who are first-time credit card users should choose one of Discover two student cards, which vary in the type of rewards you earn . If you’re not a college student and need to build credit, then go with Discover’s secured card.

What Is A Good Apr For A Credit Card

John S Kiernan, Managing EditorFeb 8, 2021

A good APR for a credit card is 14% and below. That’s roughly the average APR among credit card offers for people with excellent credit. And a great APR for a credit card is 0%. The right 0% credit card could help you avoid interest entirely on big-ticket purchases or reduce the cost of existing debt. But you generally need at least good credit to qualify for such a card, and 0% APRs only last for a limited time. As a result, the very best APR for a credit card is one you don’t need to worry about. If you pay your bill in full every month, your credit card’s interest rate is irrelevant because it will never apply. And you don’t need a certain credit score to accomplish that.

Some people might consider a good APR for a credit card to be anything below 19% because that’s roughly the average APR for new credit card offers. But just because a rate is better than what most credit cards will give you does not make it good. Consider, for example, the average American household, which owes over $8,000. They’d spend more than $2,500 in interest repaying that balance over 36 months if it were subject to an 19% APR. Fortunately, you should be able to do better if you have a good or excellent credit score.

Also Check: How To Check Visa Gift Card

How Credit Card Interest Works

Although credit card interest rates are set annually, they will charge you interest daily and bill you monthly. Credit card companies calculate interest based on your average daily balance. That means that if you are not paying your credit card balance in full, you will not only pay interest on purchases but also on the interest itself!

The average daily balance method is used to level out the day-to-day fluctuations caused by payments and purchases making it easier to calculate interest. The average daily interest rate is usually shown on billing statements but few customers understand the implications. Most people just see the aggregate finance charge on their bill and have no idea that it represents a cumulative tally of each day’s interest charges for the entire month.

Which Discover Card Is Right For You

Discover’s credit cards each fit in their own little niche, making it easy to choose the right Discover card for your needs. Here’s a breakdown:

Discover it® Cash Back: If you want to maximize your cash rewards with rotating bonus rewards categories.

Discover it® chrome: If you want year-round bonus rewards on gas and restaurant purchases.

Discover it® Miles: If you want to earn rewards you can redeem towards travel expenses.

Discover it® Balance Transfer: If you want a long 0% intro APR offer for balance transfers so you can pay down credit card debt.

Discover it® Student Cash Back: If you’re a college student and want rotating bonus categories.

Discover it® Student chrome: If you’re a college student and want cash back on gas and restaurant purchases.

Discover it® Secured Credit Card: If you need to build credit and want to earn cash back rewards.

Don’t Miss: What Credit Score Is Needed For Allegiant Credit Card

Discover It Cash Back

Our pick for: Cash back;

The Discover it® Cash Back earns bonus cash back in quarterly categories that you activate. In past years,;those categories have included common spending areas like grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations and Amazon.com. Category activation can be a hassle, but if your spending aligns with those categories , you can rake in serious rewards. You also get the issuer’s signature “cash-back match” bonus in your first year. Read our review.

How Much Will You Pay

The amount of credit card interest you pay each month can fluctuate based on your credit card balance and any changes to;your interest rate. Your finance charge, which is how interest is applied to your balance, may be calculated in different ways based on your annual percentage rate and credit card balance.

Read the back of your credit card statement for details on how your finance charges are calculated.

Read Also: Is It Best To Pay Off Credit Card In Full

When Youre Charged Credit Card Interest

You’ll be charged interest whenever you don’t pay the full balance from the previous billing cycle. For example, if your is $1,000, you’ll have to pay the full $1,000 to avoid being charged interest. Otherwise, your next credit card statement will include an interest charge applied to the unpaid amount.

Paying your balance in full each month gives you a grace period to send payment and avoid paying interest. However not all transactions have an automatic grace period, even when you paid in full the previous months. You’ll be charged interest any month you make a cash advance or other type of transaction that does not have a grace period or if your credit card doesn’t have a grace period at all.

If you have two different balances on your credit card, one with a 0% APR and one without, you’ll;still incur interest on the balance that has the interest rate.

Sometimes balance transfers have a promotional rate, while purchases receive the regular APR. You may incur finance charges if you transferred a balance to take advantage of a 0% rate and later made a purchase with the credit card before paying off the balance transfer.

Average Penalty Aprs On Credit Cards

The penalty rate, also called the default rate, is the APR you might be charged going forward if you fail to make on-time payments. This penalty rate is often significantly higher than the APR initially offered on your credit card.

Companies via the CARD Act are allowed to raise APRs only after youre 60 days late on your payments during the first year of your account. Depending on your credit card company, a number of other factors may cause you to incur the penalty rates as well, including exceeding your credit limit or defaulting on another account with the same issuer. However, issuers can increase your rate for any reason if your account is older than a year.

In our survey of credit cards, the penalty APR was generally dependent upon the card issuer. There is no federal limit on maximum allowable APRs.

Recommended Reading: What Credit Card Has The Most Cash Back

What Is A Cash Advance Using A Credit Card

A cash advance;is a way of obtaining;immediate funds through your credit card. It is not unlike a payday loan, only the funds are being advanced not against your paycheck but against your cards line of credit. In one sense, a cash advance acts like any other purchase being made through your credit card, but instead of buying goods or services, you are “buying” cash.

What many people don’t understand about cash advances is that your credit card handles them differently from the way it handles credit on purchases. Taking a cash advance is not the same thing as using your card for products or services.

Among other things, the cash advance interest rate may be higher and there may be a transaction fee. A cash advance may still make sense compared to other ways of getting a quick loan, such as a payday loan, which must be paid back, usually by your next paycheck.

Average Credit Card Interest Rates

Advertiser Disclosure

Advertiser Disclosure: ValuePenguin is an advertising-supported comparison service which receives compensation from some of the financial providers whose offers appear on our site. This compensation from our advertising partners may impact how and where products appear on our site . To provide more complete comparisons, the site features products from our partners as well as institutions which are not advertising partners. While we make an effort to include the best deals available to the general public, we make no warranty that such information represents all available products.

Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the authors opinions and recommendations alone. It may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through a credit card issuer partnership.

We examined about 200 credit cards from more than 50 issuers to get a sense of average credit card interest rates, or average credit card APRs, among card types. You can use this as a guide to see how your existing or potential APRs compare. If you’re carrying a credit card balance, consider our data to help figure out how you might lower your interest payments.

• Average penalty APRs on credit cards

You May Like: How Do I Check My Cabela’s Credit Card Balance

Best Cash Back: Discover It Cash Back

Discover will match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically.

• Why We Chose This Card:
• Pros & Cons:

The Discover it Cash Back card is Investopedia’s choice for best cash-back card due to its generous 5% cash-back earning structure on spending categories that rotate each quarter, with a base rate of 1% cash back on all other spending. There is a cap of $1,500 on eligible spending in the bonus categories each quarter, but the earnings can add up since they cover popular types of spending such as gasoline and restaurants and large online merchants like Amazon. For cardholders willing to stay on top of the bonus opportunities, the potential earnings can be significant.

• Outstanding cash-back rewards on select categories

• First-year cash-back rewards are matched

• Bonus categories are capped each quarter

• Categories must be activated before making purchases

• Relatively few benefits

Read the full Discover it® Cash Back credit card review

Security And Customer Service

Account security is a point of emphasis for Discover. Beyond the standard $0 liability for unauthorized purchases, Discover offers free overnight card replacement and an instant account lock feature called Freeze It® through its mobile app and website. Although credit bureaus like Experian and other credit monitoring services can also search thousands of risky sites for your Social Security Number, Discover is one of the few issuers that provides this deep web account monitoring alert service for free.

Read Also: Is Target Credit Card Good

How To Get A Good Credit Card Apr