Most popular credit card in R.I.? Balance transfer

RHODE ISLANDERS prefer balance-transfer credit cards, according to NerdWallet. / COURTESY NERDWALLET
RHODE ISLANDERS prefer balance-transfer credit cards, according to NerdWallet. / COURTESY NERDWALLET

(Updated 2:53 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – The most popular credit card type in Rhode Island is one that facilitates a balance transfer, according to NerdWallet.
NerdWallet, a personal finance website, said it wanted to determine which types of credit cards are the most popular in each state so it sifted through more than a million visits to NerdWallet.com’s credit card pages from January through June.
From there, it said it determined where visitors came from and which cards were clicked the most. Cards were categorized into seven types: cash-back, balance-transfer, travel rewards, secured and student, as well as cash-back and travel cards specifically for businesses.
Cash-back, balance-transfer and travel cards proved to be the most popular.
“Each of these three types has its own appeal, pros and cons, but is relevant to the mass market,” NerdWallet credit card expert Sean McQuay said in a statement.
Rhode Island, NerdWallet said, has an average credit score of 685 (according to credit reporting agency Experian) and an average individual credit card balance of $5,581. Fourteen other states besides Rhode Island prefer the balance-transfer card, which allows people to move one or more high-interest balances onto a single account, usually for a fee as a percentage of the total balances moved. The new account has low or no interest for an introductory period of about 12 to 18 months.
In Massachusetts, cash-back rewards cards are the most popular. In the Bay State, the average individual credit card balance is $5,505.
The average credit score in America is 673 and the average individual credit card debt is $5,447, according to NerdWallet.

No posts to display