Trump credit card rate cap has unclear path, ‘devastating’ risks


(L-R) Wells Fargo CEO and President Charles Scharf, Brian Bank of America Chairman and CEO Thomas Moynihan, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, State Street CEO Ronald OÕHanley, BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, testify during a Wall Street oversight hearing by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 6, 2023.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Bank executives were sent scrambling over the weekend after President Donald Trump declared late Friday that American credit card companies would be subject to a 10% cap on the interest rate they can charge customers.

The move sent shares of large banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America down between 1% and 4% in premarket trading Monday. Companies more tightly tethered to the card industry, like Visa, Mastercard and American Expressalso fell. Capital Onewhose loan book is mostly from credit cards, sank 7% in premarket trading.

Trump proposed a one-year cap on interest rates starting Jan. 20. While it’s unclear exactly how that would be enforced, the industry’s message is clear: The plan would bring unintended consequences for consumers and the American economy.

The move would make large swaths of the credit card industry unprofitable, especially tied to customers with less-than-ideal credit profiles, according to banks and analysts. Rather than offer loss-making products to consumers, the industry would simply stop offering access to customers with subprime credit, along with a slew of other changes around card programs including scaling back rewards, insiders say.

Consumers would either spend less or rely on other forms of unsecured debt, they say.

“We cannot offer products at a loss; there’s no scenario where we would take our entire portfolio to 10%,” said a person with knowledge of the operations of a large bank, who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly. “It’s not a stretch to suggest this will very quickly tank the economy.”

The drag on the economy from less spending could be more acute for airlines, retailers and restaurants, which would have to make up for lost card revenues by “potentially raising pricing prices” on their services, KBW analysts led by Sanjay Sakhrani and Chris McGratty said in a Jan. 11 research note.

The industry’s trade groups issued a joint statement late Friday making their case.

“Evidence shows that a 10% interest rate cap would reduce credit availability and be devastating for millions of American families and small business owners who rely on and value their credit cards, the very consumers this proposal intends to help,” the trade groups said.

Complicating matters, it is unclear to bankers how Trump’s rate cap would take place. The most straightforward approach, through legislation in Congress, isn’t possible by the proposed Jan. 20 start date, according to said Tobin Marcushead of U.S. policy at Wolfe Research.

Other enforcement means, through banking regulators including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are also possible. But the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to shutter that agency, and the industry has had a successful run at defeating CFPB rules via the courts.

“I’m not aware of an authority that they can use to do this unilaterally in any kind of a sweeping way,” Marcus said.

“As far as I can tell, telling them they have until Jan. 20 is an attempt to create pressure and have them do it voluntarily,” he said.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Capital One.


Related Posts

Allegiant to buy Sun Country in $1.5 billion cash and stock deal

An Allegiant Airlines jet flies out of Las Vegas Airport. Nick Potts | Getty Images Allegiant Travel said Sunday it is acquiring fellow leisure carrier Sun Country in a $1.5…

What happens when CEO Jamie Dimon leaves?

As Wall Street’s top bankers huddled in New York last month, preparing to convince Elon Musk’s SpaceX that they should be chosen to lead its upcoming IPO, one firm wasn’t…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You Missed

Allegiant to buy Sun Country in $1.5 billion cash and stock deal

  • By admin
  • January 13, 2026
  • 0 views
Allegiant to buy Sun Country in $1.5 billion cash and stock deal

Venus Williams, 45, loses in first round of final Australian Open warm-up

  • By admin
  • January 13, 2026
  • 0 views
Venus Williams, 45, loses in first round of final Australian Open warm-up

Omaxe share price jumps 15% despite weak trends in Indian stock market

  • By admin
  • January 13, 2026
  • 0 views
Omaxe share price jumps 15% despite weak trends in Indian stock market

Ravichandran Ashwin ‘willing to pay money if required’ just to sit in New Zealand team meetings; here’s why

  • By admin
  • January 13, 2026
  • 2 views
Ravichandran Ashwin ‘willing to pay money if required’ just to sit in New Zealand team meetings; here’s why

Stranger Things faces fresh backlash as fans accuse Duffer Brothers of using ChatGPT for scripts: ‘Truly shocked’

  • By admin
  • January 13, 2026
  • 1 views
Stranger Things faces fresh backlash as fans accuse Duffer Brothers of using ChatGPT for scripts: ‘Truly shocked’

‘Any place I could cameo?’: How Imran Khan’s comeback happened after a decade in Vir Das’ directorial debut Happy Patel | Bollywood News

  • By admin
  • January 13, 2026
  • 2 views
‘Any place I could cameo?’: How Imran Khan’s comeback happened after a decade in Vir Das’ directorial debut Happy Patel | Bollywood News