The average interest rate on a credit card that's actually carrying a balance just hit 22.15%

The average interest rate on a credit card that's actually carrying a balance hit 22.15% in Q2 of this year, according to the Fed, and that's just for accounts being charged interest (not the teaser rates on cards sitting at zero). It's up from 21.52% just one quarter earlier, so this isn't a plateau, rates have actually kept climbing.

For comparison, the average rate across all credit card accounts, including the ones sitting at 0% with no balance, is only around 20.94%, so the difference between what the "average cardholder" supposedly pays and what people actually carrying a balance pay is bigger than headline numbers usually show.

Anyone else surprised that interest rates have gotten this out of control?

At that rate, a big chunk of every minimum payment is just covering interest before anything touches the principal, which is part of why a balance can sit in place for years even when nothing's ever missed.