A week ago, President Donald Trump informed the credit card industry it had until Jan. 20 to meet his demand for a . With only a few days left, consumer organizations, politicians, and bankers are all still unsure about the White House’s plans and whether Trump remains serious about the idea.
To date, the White House has not provided any specifics about what will happen to credit card companies that fail to lower their rates. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated the president has “an expectation” that credit card firms will accede to his demand to cap interest rates at 10%.
“I don’t have a specific consequence to outline for you, but this is certainly an expectation—and frankly a demand—that the president has made,” she said Friday.
A researcher who analyzed Trump’s proposal when he first floated it during the 2024 presidential campaign found that Americans in interest annually if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same team noted that while the industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable—though rewards and other perks might be scaled back. The administration has amplified this research by posting it on one of the White House’s official pages.
Bank lobbyists, many of whom spent the past week scrambling to understand the White House’s plans for their industry, have been left in the dark. Both Republicans and Democrats have introduced bills in Congress this year and prior years to cap rates, but GOP leadership in the House and Senate has been unenthusiastic about passing such legislation.
The Dodd-Frank Act, the law enacted after the 2008 financial crisis to overhaul the financial industry, explicitly prohibits at least one federal bank regulator from setting usury limits on loans.
Without a law or executive order, it may simply come down to Trump using political pressure to force the credit card industry to comply—just as he has with other sectors. For example, Trump demanded pharmaceutical companies cut drug prices, leading some CEOs to pledge compliance. He also pushed chip makers and tech firms to move production to the U.S., resulting in companies like committing to expand domestic manufacturing capacity.
Wall Street has little interest in an all-out war with the White House, especially since banks have benefited from the administration’s industry-friendly, deregulatory agenda so far. The One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law in July, delivered another significant round of tax cuts. Deregulation also spurred dealmaking last year, generating steady investment banking revenues and fees for big banks.
On credit card rates, messaging from bank lobbying groups and executives has been two-fold: yet in the same breath, they have offered to work with the White House.
In a Tuesday call with reporters, JPMorgan CFO Jeffrey Barnum indicated the industry was willing to use all available resources to block the Trump administration from capping rates. JPMorgan is one of the nation’s largest credit card issuers, with customers holding $239.4 billion in collective balances and major co-brand partnerships with companies like United Airlines and . It also recently acquired the Apple Card portfolio from Goldman Sachs.
Citigroup CFO Mark Mason told reporters Wednesday that a rate cap “is not something we could or would support,” arguing it would restrict consumer credit and harm the economy. But he added: “Affordability is a big issue, and we look forward to collaborating with the administration on solutions.”
Trump further targeted the card industry by endorsing a congressional bill that could reduce banks’ merchant swipe fees.
Not all companies are waiting for Trump’s next move.
Fintech firm Bilt launched a new line of credit cards this week and said it would cap customers’ interest rates at 10% on new purchases for a year. While this is effectively a promotional rate used by other firms in the past, Bilt’s move could show how the industry can meet the White House’s demands without destroying its business model.
“If (a credit card rate cap) is going to happen, we’d rather be at the forefront,” Bilt CEO Ankur Jain said in an interview earlier this week.