NEW YORK—A new report reveals that many of the largest U.S. retailers, along with their bank partners, hiked interest rates on their store-branded cards to record highs in the months before the Federal Reserve began cutting rates, as the companies looked to pad profits during a stretch of sluggish sales.
CNBC reported that at least 50 companies — including Big Lots, Gap, Petco, Burlington, Macy’s and TJX Companies — increased the APRs on their credit cards between September 2023 and September 2024, according to a review of data gathered by Bankrate.com that examined the nation’s 100 largest retailers.
Bankrupt home goods chain Big Lots raised its APR by six percentage points from 29.99% to 35.99% — the largest increase out of the retailers reviewed by Bankrate. Gap made the second largest increase, a five-percentage-point hike on its Banana Republic, Athleta, Old Navy and namesake cards. Petco came in third with a 4.5-percentage-point increase, CNBC said.