It's not coincidence that most retail outlets promote store-branded credit cards. Why? It's profitable. Why? Because the consumer pays more -- way more -- for the privilege of using them when they carry a balance. "Retailers dangle incentives like 15 percent off a purchase to encourage consumers to sign up for their credit cards," said Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. "But this often ends up being a bad deal. The much higher interest rates far outweigh the one-time discount for anyone who carries a balance." The average retail credit card annual percentage rate is 23.23 percent. That's more than 8 points above the average credit card interest rate and more than double what consumers with good credit can get, according to a CreditCards.com survey released Thursday.
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