Methodology

This page describes, in enough detail for someone to reproduce it, where the numbers on Hub for Credit come from. We publish the method because a figure without provenance is worth nothing — and because we want to be checked.

The source

Every rate comes from FRED, the economic data service of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRED republishes official series from the Federal Reserve Board, the Commercial Bank Interest Rate survey and Freddie Mac. We do not compute our own averages and we do not survey lenders ourselves; we report the official series and print its identifier so you can open it.

The series we track

Because these series are published on different schedules, the observation dates on the home page will not all match. That is why each figure carries its own date rather than one date for the whole panel.

How the collection works

A collector runs on our side, reads the most recent observation of each series, and pushes the set to the site. It replaces the whole set at once rather than merging, so a partial collection can never leave one stale series sitting next to six fresh ones without anything showing it.

The date you see on a figure is the observation date of the series — the period the Federal Reserve is describing — not the date we fetched it or the date you are reading. Those are three different things and conflating them is how a finance site starts making false claims by accident.

When collection fails

If FRED is unreachable or a series changes, the previous value stays with its previous date. Showing last quarter’s figure labelled as last quarter is correct; showing no figure because a request timed out is not. Once the data is more than eleven days past its expected refresh, the site raises a notice rather than continuing to present it as current.

What the calculators do

The calculators are plain arithmetic, run in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or stored anywhere.

• Payoff amortizes a balance at a fixed APR against a fixed monthly payment, month by month, and reports the number of months and the total interest.
• Minimum payment recalculates the required payment every month as 1% of the balance plus that month’s interest, with a $25 floor, which is the formula most large issuers use, and shows how far that stretches the payoff. Your issuer’s formula is printed in your cardholder agreement and may differ.
• Loan computes a standard amortized installment from principal, rate and term.

They stop at 600 months. A balance that has not cleared in fifty years is not a calculation problem, it is the answer.

Limits you should know

• These are national averages. The rate you are offered depends on your credit file, income and the lender, and will often sit well outside the average.
• APR is not the full cost. Fees, insurance add-ons and interest capitalization change the real number.
• The credit card series covers commercial banks. Store cards and many fintech issuers price above it.
• Quarterly series lag. A figure can be the most recent official observation and still be two months behind the market.

How to check us

Every series is public and free. Open fred.stlouisfed.org and search the identifier printed next to any figure on this site. If you find a discrepancy, write to us through the contact page: we correct it and record the date.