Executives from banks, including Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM), were critical of U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates.
“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%,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Jan. 9.
Trump did not elaborate on how the plan will be executed and banks will be made to comply.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, however, said that the cap would have a “severe impact on access to credit and on consumer spending across the country.”
Speaking at Citi’s post-earnings conference call, Fraser said that “If you make these products unprofitable, that spending will be drastically reduced.”
“A vast majority of consumers and businesses will lose access to credit cards … They’d be forced to pursue more predatory alternatives. And you’d only be left with the wealthy having access to credit cards, and nobody wants that,” she added.
JP Morgan CEO James Dimon also said that an imposition of price controls would “compress the profit margins” and “the provision of the service will change dramatically.”
“Specifically, people will lose access to credit, like on a very, very extensive and broad basis, especially the people who need it the most, honestly. And so that’s a pretty severely negative consequence for consumers and frankly, probably also a negative consequence for the economy as a whole right now,” Dimon said.
“If you bring the caps down, you’re going to constrict credit, meaning less people will get credit cards and the balance available to them on those credit cards will also be restricted. And so you have to balance that against what you’re trying to achieve from the affordability,” Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan said in the company’s earnings call.
A joint statement from the Consumer Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, Financial Services Forum and Independent Community Bankers of America also pushed back against a 10% rate cap.
The statement said that the cap would “reduce credit availability” and ” drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives.”