Cyprus may have higher interest rates than the Eurozone, even though it is currently historically low, yet Cyprus is also one of the three countries with the lowest credit card, overdraft and revolving credit facility rates.
Data from the European Central Bank show that the average interest rate on credit card debt in the Eurozone is 16.80% and for overdrafts 6.05%. In Cyprus the average credit card rate is 10.65% and overdrafts 4.91%. The impact of the financial crisis does not appear to have affected the interest rate on credit cards, which, over time, is lower than other types of lending.
Malta has a lower interest rate for credit card charges at 8.21% and 5.65% for overdrafts. Finland is also one of the countries with low interest rates, with an average interest rate for credit card charges at 8.31% and overdrafts at 4.59%. In other countries the differences are large. Slovakia has the most expensive credit card charges in the Eurozone at 22.29% and overdrafts at 9.84%. Spain, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Latvia and Luxembourg are countries with rigid credit card charges. In particular, in Germany, credit card debt has an interest rate of 14.67% and revolving loans and overdrafts 8.26%. In Greece, the average interest rate on credit cards is 16.34% and the overdraft rate is 9.47%.
In Spain, the average interest rate on credit card debt is 20.48% and a large downward difference is marked with its overdraft rate of 3.15%. In Latvia, the average credit card rate is 21.72% and overdraft at 15.80%. In Lithuania, credit card debt has an interest rate of 16.97% and a large difference is recorded to the overdraft rate at 2.10%. In Portugal, the average interest rate on credit card debt is 17.97% and overdraft at 5.38%. The average interest rate on revolving loans and overdrafts in Cyprus is 4.05% and in the eurozone 2.22%. The lowest interest rate for businessmen is in the Netherlands with 0.93% and in Finland 1.49%.