Women Pay More for Credit Cards: Study

April 24, 2012 — -- Women pay more for their credit cards than men do. (And that's a double whammy, because we also shop more than men do!) A FINRA Foundation Study found that, on average, we gals pay a half a point higher interest rate on our cards than the guys do. And that's after factoring in things like income level, education -- even financial literacy.

Now the good news: among financially literate men and women these last three stats disappeared. Men and women were equal.

"For women, having a high level of financial literacy appears to pay off," said FINRA Foundation President Gerri Walsh. "Becoming more financially literate is a great step that any woman can take to keep more of her hard-earned money in her pocket."

Whether you're a man OR a woman, I can help make you more credit-card-literate. This is key because credit is one of the top things we spend money on. People don't usually think of it that way, but credit absolutely has a cost, and that cost is the interest rate. Raise your credit score and you will lower your interest rate. Lowering your credit card interest rate can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. Here are the "Dos" and "Don'ts" of maintaining a high credit score.

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