# Where Can I Find the Apr on My Credit Card?

## Where can I find the APR used to calculate interest on my credit card account?

The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for your credit card account is on your credit card statement. To access your statement, click “Online Statements” from the “Accounts” tab in Regions Online Banking.

## APR vs. APY

While APR gives you the real cost of a loan annually, it does not take into consideration the compounding effect of a loan when the loan is not calculated based on simple interest as seen above.

The calculation of interest payment above is based on a simple interest model that is not widely used for long-term loans like student loans or mortgage loans.

To take into consideration the compounding effect of an interest in a loan, you can use the annual percentage yield (APY) instead of APR.

Annual percentage yield is the amount that is earned from a savings deposit, taking into account the compounding nature of compound interest. Annual percentage yield gives the total amount that savings or investments will yield over a period.

When compared with the annual percentage rate, the annual yield measures what the lender will gain by investing their money, taking into account the number of times that the investment was compounded.

The formula for calculating annual percentage yield is:

APY = 100[(1+ interest/principal) ^ (365/days in loan term)-1]

For example, Frances received interest of $40 for depositing$2000 in the bank. To calculate the APY for the amount deposited, use the APY formula:

APY = 100[(1+40/2000)^(365/365)-1]

The annual percentage yield is 2%.

## What’s the Difference Between APR and Interest Rate?

The difference between a loan’s APR and its interest rate can depend on the type of financial product.

For installment loans, such as personal, auto, student and mortgage loans, the APR and interest rate may be the same if there are no finance charges. However, if there is a finance charge, such as an origination fee, the APR will be higher than the interest rate because your cost of borrowing is more than the interest charges alone. The difference between the APR and interest rate can also increase if the loan’s term is shorter, as you’ll be repaying the entire finance charge more quickly.

On credit cards, the APR and interest rate are the same because a credit card APR never takes the card’s fees into account. As a result, you may want to compare not only cards’ APRs, but also their annual fees, balance transfer fees, foreign transaction fees and any other fees when deciding on a credit card. Keep in mind that you can generally avoid paying interest on your credit card if you pay off the balance in full every month.

## Where can you find your credit cards APR?

Card issuers list your APR on your monthly billing statement in the section about how your interest charges are calculated. And you can often view your APR after logging into your account online or via your bank's mobile app. There's also the option to live chat or call a customer service representative if you're struggling to find the number on your bill.

## Why Is the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) Disclosed?

Consumer protection laws require companies to disclose the APRs associated with their product offerings in order to prevent companies from misleading customers. For instance, if they were not required to disclose the APR, a company might advertise a low monthly interest rate while implying to customers that it was an annual rate. This could mislead a customer into comparing a seemingly low monthly rate against a seemingly high annual one. By requiring all companies to disclose their APRs, customers are presented with an “apples to apples” comparison.

## How to calculate your daily APR on a credit card

Your credit card company may calculate your interest with a daily periodic rate.

Calculate your daily APR in three easy steps:

1. Step 1: Find your current APR and current balance in your credit card statement.
2. Step 2: Divide your APR rate by 365 (for the 365 days in the year) to find your daily periodic rate.
3. Step 3: Multiply your current balance by your daily periodic rate.

If your current balance is $500 for the entire month and your APR rate is 17.99%, you can find your daily periodic rate by dividing your current APR by 365. In this case, your daily APR would be approximately 0.0492%. By multiplying$500 by 0.00049, you’ll find your daily periodic rate is $0.25. In order to calculate the monthly interest charges to your balance you simply need to multiply this daily periodic rate by the number of days in your billing cycle. For most credit cards the average billing cycle is about 30 days. With this in mind, it is prudent to keep on top of payments each month in order to minimize this effect of daily compounding interest. The steps above will put you on the right path to not only learning how to calculate APR on a credit card, it will also assist you in learning how to use your credit card efficiently. ## Types of APRs Many credit cards have a range of APRs based on the actions you take, such as making a purchase, completing a balance transfer, taking out a cash advance and more. Here's how each APR works. • Purchase APR: This is the interest rate charged on new purchases. • Balance transfer APR: This is the interest rate applied to balance transfers and may be equal to or greater than the purchase APR. • Introductory APR: Many credit cards offer intro APR periods that charge no interest for a set length of time (up to 21 months). During the intro 0% APR period, you may benefit from no interest on new purchases, balance transfers or both. These offers are a great way to save on interest charges and get out of debt. • Cash advance APR: The interest rate you incur if you take out a cash advance. This rate is often one of the highest APRs you can be charged and cash advances incur interest immediately with no grace period. • Penalty APR: When you pay late, card issuers may penalize you with an interest rate that's higher than your regular APR. ## How do I calculate APR on a car loan? To calculate the estimated APR on a car loan, we’ve put together a method using computer spreadsheet software. To go that route, you’ll need the following information: • Loan amount — The total amount you plan to finance, typically the price of the vehicle, minus any down payment or trade-in (a down payment on your auto loan or trade-in will lower the amount you need to finance, which can reduce your monthly payment) • Loan term — The length of your auto loan • The loan’s interest rate (this is an estimated rate until you formally apply) • Certain fees, like origination fees The first step in calculating APR yourself is calculating your estimated monthly payment. ### 1. Calculate your monthly estimated payment If you already know your estimated monthly loan payment, you can skip this step. If you don’t, you can easily estimate your monthly car payment on a spreadsheet by typing the formula below into a cell. =PMT(interest rate as a decimal/12, number of months in loan term, loan amount, with fees) The result is your estimated monthly payment. It will be a negative number, but don’t worry. You didn’t make a mistake. Keep this number handy for calculating your APR. Let’s say you want to finance$13,000 ($12,500, plus a$500 loan application fee) with a loan term of 60 months and an interest rate of 4%. Here’s what your formula would look like with those numbers plugged in.

=PMT(.04/12, 60, 13000)

Using this example, your spreadsheet would calculate your monthly payment to be $239.41. ### 2. Calculate your estimated APR To estimate your APR on the loan using a spreadsheet, enter the formula below into a cell. This formula assumes that your monthly payment was either calculated in step 1 or otherwise includes fees. If you didn’t calculate your monthly payment in step 1 or aren’t sure whether the monthly payment you’re using reflects fees, keep in mind that this formula may not be the best way to calculate your estimated APR. =RATE(number of months in loan term, estimated monthly payment, value of loan minus fees)*12 Using the monthly payment you calculated (-$239.41), here’s what you’d enter into the cell for this loan example.

=RATE(60,-239.41,12500)*12

Entering the formula above would calculate your estimated APR at approximately 5.6%.

## How the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) Works

An annual percentage rate is expressed as an interest rate. It calculates what percentage of the principal you’ll pay each year by taking things such as monthly payments into account. APR is also the annual rate of interest paid on investments without accounting for the compounding of interest within that year.

The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) of 1968 mandated that lenders disclose the APR they charge to borrowers. Credit card companies are allowed to advertise interest rates on a monthly basis, but they must clearly report the APR to customers before they sign an agreement.

### How Is APR Calculated?

APR is calculated by multiplying the periodic interest rate by the number of periods in a year in which it was applied. It does not indicate how many times the rate is actually applied to the balance.

APR=((nPrincipalFees+Interest)×365)×1where:Interest=Total interest paid over life of the loanPrincipal=Loan amountn=Number of days in loan term

## How to find your credit card’s APR

Your credit card APR may be available in multiple locations: on your most recent credit card statement, in your card’s terms and conditions, on your card issuer’s website, or by reaching out to the credit card issuer directly.

Note that there may be different APRs for purchases, cash advances and balance transfers. Be sure you refer to the correct one when calculating what you owe. When we say "APR" in this article, we’re referring to the APR for purchases.

Typically, you can find your credit card APR near the end of your monthly statement. There will be a section of the statement marked "Interest Charge Calculation" or a similarly worded section.

The statement section also shows you how much of your balance will be used to calculate your monthly interest charge. Interest accrues every day on any unpaid balance, and the accrued interest becomes part of your total balance. Because your interest compounds, what you owe can grow quickly.

### Find your APR in your credit card’s terms and conditions (T&Cs)

If you’re considering signing up for a particular credit card, it’s a good idea to read the card’s terms and conditions thoroughly. You can also refer to your existing cards’ T&Cs for important information like purchase APR.

Your card’s APR is listed near the top of the card’s T&Cs.

If you have an online account with your card issuer, you can log in and navigate to your account information section to find the APR associated with your card.

Your card issuer’s website should have the most up-to-date information on APR, making this a smart choice to see what your credit card APR is today.

You can contact your card issuer directly to get up-to-date rate information. For your existing credit cards, your issuer’s phone number can be found on the card itself.

## What’s a good car loan APR?

In August 2020, commercial banks charged an average APR of 4.98% on 48- and 60-month car loans, according to the Federal Reserve. But keep in mind that interest rates vary by lender, and a range of other factors can affect the APR you’re offered. Here are a few.

The better credit you have, the lower your loan rate is likely to be. Check your credit scores before you shop for a car so that you have a good idea of where your credit stands overall.

Your guide to credit score ranges