Standard Credit Card Purchase Interest Rate is the standard interest rate charged on Purchases as calculated by the Reserve Bank. The vast majority of Credit Cards come with an Interest Free Period on Purchases of up to 55 days.
RBA determined annual Standard Credit Card Purchase Interest Rate notes "Standard refers to standard Visa and MasterCard accounts with an interest-free period. Prior to February 2006, the standard credit card series also included Bankcard rates. ‘Credit cards – Low rate’ refers to Visa and MasterCard accounts with an interest-free period, but with fewer features than standard credit cards." - RBA Excel file - Notes
Reserve Bank Standard credit card purchase interest rates from August 2000.
The blue table in Chapter 5 shows that the spread between the wholesale cost of funds, known as the Overnight Cash Rate, and Standard Credit Card Purchase Interest Rate has widened and widened and widened:
* was less than 1% when the RBA imposed 18% cap was removed by the RBA in April 1985
* was 10% in 2001
* was 18.5% in March 2017
The below RBA Graph 6 'Credit Card Interest Rates' (sourced from Developments in the Card Payments Market - Mar 2015) shows the Standard Credit Cards Purchase Interest Rate @ 23% on January 1990 and spread of 12% (23% minus 17.5% = 5.5%).
Graph 6
The highest Purchase interest rate is 25.9% from "Lombard Visa Card Classic".
The highest Cash Advance interest rate is 29.49% from G.E. Money's "Go MasterCard"