Credit-card interest rates are beginning an upward climb at the same time that a large portion of the population is vowing to pay off some of their credit card debt.
Three studies were released Thursday involving credit cards and other financial issues, and the results seem to dovetail.
WalletHub and CardHub, web-based financial research organizations, found credit card interest rates have begun to rise since the Federal Reserve Board raised its interest rate slightly in December. Average credit card interest rates increased by 2.3 percent for the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2015, CardHub says.
Increasing the burden on consumers is the fact that savings account yields fell 6.79 percent year-over-year for the first quarter, WalletHub says.
While that is the bad news for consumers, some people are trying to improve their situation, says Experian, a web-based financial resource for consumers and businesses. Eighty percent of the people receiving tax refunds this year say they will use the money to pay down credit card debt or increase their savings.
On a side note, Experian found that half of taxpayers file their taxes themselves electronically. Twenty-eight percent say they have been the victim of tax fraud or know someone who has been.