Trump Promised a Cap on Credit Card Interest Rates. Here's His Chance. [View all]

Senators Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley say they will propose a 10 percent limit on credit card interest rates.

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A lid on credit card rates has been a white whale of sorts for consumer advocates and others for generations, with efforts falling short during the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama. The idea received new life in September when President Trump, then on the campaign trail, said he supported a temporary 10 percent limit on credit card rates “while working Americans catch up.”

That exact cap is contained in Tuesday’s legislation to amend the 1968 Truth in Lending Act, proposed by two senators who aren’t typically ideological allies: Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, and Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri. Both separately participated in earlier attempts to impose a cap.

The average credit card interest rate is now more than 20 percent, according to Bankrate. The metric has risen over the past decade; at 22.8 percent in 2023, credit card companies were charging their highest rates since the Federal Reserve began collecting data in 1994.

The new limit would expire in 2031, after Mr. Trump’s term. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether the administration would back it.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/business/credit-card-interest-cap.html