What Trump’s Credit-Card Interest Rate Cap Means for Consumers
The president is demanding lenders cap interest rates at 10% for one year. That could have unintended consequences, experts say.
President Donald Trump during a meeting in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 9.
Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg
President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to boost affordability aims at helping Americans with credit-card debt. But his strategy will come with unintended downsides for consumers, experts say.
Writing on social media Friday night, the president demanded that credit-card lenders cap interest rates at 10% for one year, in a push to bring down costs for everyday borrowers grappling with rates that average around 20%. It’s not clear whether Trump has the authority to mandate that cap, but the missive nevertheless rattled shares of card issuers including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Capital One Financial Corp. and Citigroup Inc.