



Bank stocks brace for impact after Trump calls for 10% cap on credit-card interest rates
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Donald Trump on Friday called for credit-card companies to cap the interest rates they charge customers, as the president leans harder into addressing consumers’ affordability concerns. “Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10%," he said in a Truth Social post.
It was unclear how the move would be enacted, but credit-card companies may already be bracing for a negative stock reaction if a reduction in rates hits their net interest income. Trump’s proposed rate, if enacted, would be lower than any rate seen at least since 1994. The average credit-card interest rate in the U.S.
is 19.65%, with store credit cards charging an average rate of 30.14%, according to Bankrate. Senators Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., proposed the same cap on credit-card interest rates in a February 2025 bill that failed to gain traction. Card lenders made a record $130 billion in credit-card interest and fees in 2022, with the average cardholder carrying a balance of over $5,000, according to a 2024 estimate from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Consumers may be welcoming Trump’s announcement. The current delinquency for subprime credit-card borrowers—16.3%—remains elevated, even as the market has seen an overall improvement in debt repayment behavior, data from the Federal Reserve shows. Total credit card balances in the U.S.
totaled $1.23 trillion in the third quarter, up $24 billion from the previous quarter, according to the New York Fed. That said, a cap would likely be a temporary Band-Aid for affordability concerns. When companies can’t price their risk for leverage properly, they
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