How to Find an Annual Interest Rate

An annual interest rate, also commonly referred to as the "annual percentage rate," is the percentage of a principal loan amount that a borrower is charged on an annual basis. If you are unsure of the annual interest rate that you are being charged on a credit card, car loan, mortgage or other personal loan, you can find the annual interest rate by performing a few simple math equations.

Instructions

1

Determine the amount of interest that you have paid in one month. If you are searching for a credit card annual interest rate, look at your last monthly statement and see how much your finance charge was. If a finance charge is not listed on an alternative loan statement, take note of the previous month's balance, your previous payment and your current balance. Subtract your previous balance from your previous payment amount. Next, subtract your current balance by the difference. This computation will tell you how much you paid in interest for the month.

2

Divide the amount that you paid in interest for the prior month by the outstanding balance left on the loan to find the monthly rate of interest. For example, if you paid $150 in interest in the previous month and had an account balance of $15,000, you would have paid 1 percent (150/15,000 =.01) of your payment as interest for the month.

3

Multiply your monthly interest rate by 12 (since there are 12 months in a year) to find the annual interest rate on your loan. For example, if you paid 1 percent for the prior month, you would pay 12 percent of your $15,000 balance, or $1,800 for the year, in interest payments.