Just what you don’t want to hear at this time of year: sky-high interest rates on retail credit cards.

Rep. Anthony D. Weiner, 9th District, Brooklyn- Queens, released details of a new study of major New York City stores like Radio Shack and Staples, and found rates ranging anywhere from a little more than 25 percent to just under 29 percent. That’s nearly double the average rates on credit cards like Master Card and Visa.

The study named Radio Shack, Best Buy, Staples, Home Depot and Sears as the top five businesses with the worst retail store card rates. It also names 30 other offenders including: Abercrombie & Fitch; J. Crew; Target; Barnes & Noble and Brooks Brothers.

“If you were a loan shark and went into business and charged more than 25 percent, you would be considered by the State Of New York to be charging a criminal usury rate,” Weiner pointed out.

The study had this advice for holiday shoppers: if you know you’re going to have a balance that will take more than a month to pay off, use no-interest or low-interest credit cards instead.

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(Source: WPIX)