Pulaski Bank 6.5% Visa Card

That’s not a teaser rate.

Pulaski Bank, based in Little Rock, Ark., with branches in Arkansas and Tennessee, has a long-standing reputation for having the lowest credit card rates in the country.

You must have excellent credit to qualify for their Visa card, but if you do, you pay a fixed rate of 6.5% on all your purchases. That’s less than half the national average of 14.37%.

You pay the same 6.5% for cash advances and there’s no cash advance fee, either.

Of course rates can change, and other banks are certainly increasing the interest rate on hundreds of thousands of customers right now. But the last time Pulaski Bank changed its rate was in 2007, when it was lowered from 7.99% to 6.5%.

It gets better.

If you transfer a balance from a high-rate credit card, there is no balance transfer fee (most charge 3% of the balance) and you pay no interest for six months.

Other charges are standard: late payment fees that range from $15 to $35, depending on your balance; $35 over-credit-limit fee; 2% minimum payment (it’s usually 4%); and a default APR of 22% should you miss a payment. That rate will remain until your account is brought current.

The only negative is a $35 annual fee. But if you carry a balance, that fee would be more than offset by the 6.5% interest rate.

(You know things are bad when the IRS starts taking pity on us. Don’t miss that, a look at “step-up CDs” and more on our personal finance blog. Just click on the “finance” tab at the top of the page or here to go Bankaholic’s Personal Finance Blog.”)