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United States The Almighty Buck

Lawmakers Propose Cap on Credit Card Interest Rates (businessinsider.com) 138

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Anna Paulina Luna introduced bipartisan legislation in March to cap credit card interest rates at 10% annually as Americans' debt hits record levels. "Credit cards with high interest rates regularly trap working people in endless cycles of debt," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.

Credit card debt has reached $1.2 trillion in Q4 2024, up from $720 billion in the same quarter of 2004, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York data. Average annual percentage rates nearly doubled to 21% in 2024 from 12% in 2003. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported a record number of cardholders making only minimum payments in Q3 2024, "showing signs of consumer stress."

Further reading: Study Reveals Why Credit Card Interest Rates Remain Stubbornly High.

Lawmakers Propose Cap on Credit Card Interest Rates

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  • Interesting. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by wyHunter ( 4241347 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @10:52AM (#65276333)
    If you look here: https://www.in2013dollars.com/... [in2013dollars.com] $720 is today worth $1210.82. So adjusted for inflation, the values are exactly the same.
    • Re:Interesting. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by AvitarX ( 172628 ) <me@noSPAm.brandywinehundred.org> on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:06AM (#65276375) Journal

      And less per person, since population is up.

      Probably partially because the rates are high enough that people are using other forms of credit.

  • by nightflameauto ( 6607976 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @10:56AM (#65276341)

    How will the poor credit companies continue to post record profits if they can't take advantage of those who have to use credit to take care of basics like healthcare and home repairs since our government insists on not doing anything to help the common man. This is so unfair to the banking industry. How dare these government officials try to do anything that might help the common man.

    I'm sure this comment section will be filled with well reasoned responses about people using credit needing to change their ways, but sometimes you're stuck when emergencies happen because the economy has been geared to keep most of us hovering on the brink at all times. "Maximum capital extraction" is the name of the game for the business world, and our government enables that at every turn. Of course people end up using credit for emergencies in those situations because they have no choice. Dropping maximum interest rates to something reasonable would allow some of those folks to crawl out of the hole, or at least start seeing daylight again.

    • by Fifth of Five ( 451664 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:01AM (#65276359)

      A 10% cap on interest means only the wealthy and folks with credit scores north of 750 will get a credit card. Not necessarily bad, but I can see folks bitching about how the poor are being frozen out of credit markets.

      • by BeepBoopBeep ( 7930446 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:03AM (#65276363)
        Poor being locked out of the credit market ... may make them less poor
        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          It just means they get fleeced by different groups. At least a credit card can be discharged via bankruptcy, or not paying for four years. By locking people out of credit cards, it means more payday loans, or more auto loans that can't ever be paid off, which gets them in debt in other ways. If someone drives to an entry level job, and their car loses an alternator, what is to be done?

          Overall, I will assert, it is expensive to be poor. Boots Law definitely holds true. Being able to get credit can be a

          • by LeadGeek ( 3018497 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @12:11PM (#65276605)
            The payday loanshark shops have really popped up everywhere here in south Texas the last 10 years. They are truly a cancer on both the economy and the vulnerable populations here. Pawn shops are probably more fair.
            • Having been rather poor myself as a young man, I'd like to point out that having a bad option is better than having no option at all. You get rid of payday loans, then what? Then the poor are back to writing checks and trying to beat them back to the bank.

              • Having been rather poor myself as a young man, I'd like to point out that having a bad option is better than having no option at all. You get rid of payday loans, then what? Then the poor are back to writing checks and trying to beat them back to the bank.

                I was poor as a young guy. There are other options than going into major debt. They worked for me, although I don't think most people have enough discipline. Kept my vehicles and furniture longer, I lived in a mobile home until I saved enough to buy a house and paid it off in a little over 14 years. That house was over 150 K less than Mrs Real estate agent wanted to sell me, I went through 4 of them for trying to upsell me to being house poor. One even told me I was a fool for not buying more house than I c

            • by taustin ( 171655 )

              Pawn shops are generally much more closely regulated.

        • by Rinnon ( 1474161 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:29AM (#65276451)

          This is pretty insightful, but probably a politically unacceptable position to take (for AOC et. al., not for you). I can see people crying out against the nanny state already, even if it would be a good thing to not be handing out credit cards like they're debit carts.

          Everyone saying you'll need a FICO of 700 - 750 just to get one... yeah I kinda wish it had been that way when I was a kid. I spent my 20s with thousands in credit card debt, I couldn't even tell you what I spent it on, because I was a young fool who wanted things and figured I could easily pay it back in a few months (which of course becomes a few years [which sometimes turns into a decade when your life doesn't take the path you predicted {but when does it ever?}]). It's not just poor people, but also young people who would most likely benefit from less access to high interest credit cards. But again... "Mah freedoms! Nanny state! Yadda yadda yadda"

          • First, sorry you did that. I've said numerous times here the problem is education. No one in HS or really this should start in middle school, explains what credit is and simple finance. I too was poor but my parents did a better job instilling in the kids don't buy what you can't afford. Credit is evil. As a result, none of us kids got sucked into CC debt.
        • Poor being locked out of the credit market ... may make them less poor

          Many lower income individuals already do not have credit cards (many don't even have bank accounts, but that's a different discussion). For those who do have credit cards, they are often used for essentials, such as food. So take away the cards, and it means you don't eat at the end of the month. You might argue that not paying interest on a credit card would allow you to spend more money on food, but when you're hungry, you're hungry right now, and if it's eat or charge it, what would you choose?

          Making c

          • Making credit more difficult to access for lower income individuals will also make it more difficult to escape poverty, because they will be unable to purchase a car or a home, and it may make it difficult for them to find liquidity needed when there are emergency expenses (such as a car repair or hospital bill).

            Purchasing a home on a credit card or even making the down payment is the fast track to financial ruin.

            Gotta plan better. I'm sure I'll enrage people, maybe get death threats, but there is a different way. As a kid that grew up in deep poverty, I should be the poster child for the idea it is impossible to get out of it. But there is a different way.

            All I can ask is why the hate for a kid whose clothes came from relatives, grew up in the bad part of town, and who lived on surplus food? ( the precurser

            • by kenh ( 9056 )

              Making credit more difficult to access for lower income individuals will also make it more difficult to escape poverty, because they will be unable to purchase a car or a home, and it may make it difficult for them to find liquidity needed when there are emergency expenses (such as a car repair or hospital bill).

              Purchasing a home on a credit card or even making the down payment is the fast track to financial ruin.

              Who said buy a car or house with a "credit card" - the OP said "credit", not "credit card" - having a credit card that you use responsibly is how you build up a good credit rating that you need before you try and borrow money for a car or home.

              Ten Percent (10%) is way too low a cap on interest rates - aside from special introductory rates on new credit cards, does anyone actually have a 10% interest rate on their credit cards? I have a decent/good credit rating and I've not seen an offer under 19% for the l

          • by ahodgson ( 74077 )

            If you need a credit card to eat, you have an immediately problem to fix. One that paying interest isn't going to help you with.

        • Poor being locked out of the credit market ... may make them less poor

          Maybe. I assume they're not dumb and would pay cash if they thought it in their best interest. Since many people don't, I'm going to trust they have good reasons for borrowing. Personally I figured out that paying credit card interest was a losing game and can't remember the last time I didn't pay my bill in full (but I'm lucky enough that I haven't had to worry about cash flow for a number of years).

          I'm with the grandpost: capping interest rates will just make credit cards impossible to get unless you have

          • Credit cards are a really tempting resource to abuse. Having $2000 in credit available feels like having $2000 in hand. You can just buy that thing you want.
            Anyone in the situation can just step back and think it over logically, but there's a whole lot of, "Well, it's only $5, I can pay that off," that goes on. Both the dumb and the smart can get sucked in, because the problem originates with emotion, rather than reason. We want the King to be in charge, but for many people, it's the Wolf.

        • Yes and no. Depends on why they are poor. Some are poor because they make poor financial choices, some are poor because they were born that way and haven't crawled out of it, and some are poor because they fell on some bad luck. The credit market offers a way to potentially get out of a rut by investing with future income.

        • I don't see how the new group of pay over time companies (like afterpay, Klarna, etc) and the old group (payday loans, check cashing, pawn shops, rez lenders) are going to make them any less poor. In fact, I'm quite sure it will be worse.
        • by kenh ( 9056 )

          Poor being locked out of the credit market ... may make them less poor

          Until they can't drive to work because they lack credit to pay for an unsecured credit card to pay for a needed car repair?

          Credit is a tool, when used correctly, can help people navigate issues in their life.

          Capping interest rates will limit access to credit by lower-income/poor credit risk individuals - yes, 20% interest rates are abusive, but when you have to pay for a significant, un-planned expense, the issue becomes access to credit, and a lack of credit can complicate their problems.

          Should interest ra

      • This was exactly what I was going to say. The interest rate on a card is proportional to the perceived risk of the debtor. If they aren't allowed to set interest rates high enough to offset that risk, they simply will not take on the risk.

        Great solution!

        • Check that Further Reading link. Turns out those with good credit get to subsidize those that default.

          • Those who pay off their bill pay zero interest, they dont subsidize anyone.
            • by fropenn ( 1116699 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:44AM (#65276505)
              Credit card companies (along with Visa, MC, and AMEX) charge those who accept cards a 3-5% fee for the transaction (and sometimes additional monthly fees on top of this for equipment "rental", account fees, etc.). So everyone who shops at those locations pays for those costs in the form of higher prices.
              • You're talking about out ENTIRELY different lines of business. Card association transaction fees have fuck-all to do with other costs associated with a merchant account like the terminals, etc, and have absolute-fuck-all to do with fees and charges associated with credit accounts.

                Obviously you can open a line of credit without a Visa or any card. The acquiring hardware/terminal has its own associated costs. A debit card has nothing to do with credit and transacts on the same network, etc.

                Transaction fees pa

            • Depends. Merchants still get dinged a few percentage of each sale when someone uses a card, so the credit card companies are not exactly going to go out of business if someone pays their stuff on time. Then there are all the fees like chargebacks and such.

              Of course, from what I know, it can be an "annoyance". I wonder if one of the reasons that the current underwriters of the Apple Card are wanting to get out from it is because often the card tends to be used for stuff, and paid off immediately, as oppos

        • by Geoffrey.landis ( 926948 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:24AM (#65276435) Homepage

          This was exactly what I was going to say. The interest rate on a card is proportional to the perceived risk of the debtor.

          No, it's not. The interest rate on a card is proportional to the perceived how much the credit card company thinks it can get away with.

          Just discussed right here: https://news.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]

        • Lets see, my credit score is currently 850, my bank CC's interest rate is 20.99%, and my bank LoC's interest rate is 6.45%.

          So, no, Credit Card interest rates actually have nothing to do with 'perceived risk of the debtor.' If it did, my CC would also be at 6.45%.

          • Thats correct, the rate is based on the product (the card). Its the same regardless of who uses it (assuming you are accepted which is based on your credit score). They want you to not pay in full. AMEX is the one of the few products that discourages missing your payment, the revenue comes in higher transaction fees and your annual membership (not for the average broke person) to build outs its benefits. AMEX doesnt want to take on liability of debt.
          • Not my fault if you signed on for a shitty credit card. Read the terms before submitting the application.

            Exactly zero of my credit cards have an interest rate anywhere close to 20% because I'm not signing up for shitty deals, regardless of my 800+ credit score.

      • by AvitarX ( 172628 ) <me@noSPAm.brandywinehundred.org> on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:14AM (#65276395) Journal

        10% definitely seems pretty low to me.

        Even with good credit and income, I expect unsecured debt to be around 12%. We had a year with 9% inflation recently, good luck getting adjustable rate unsecured credit at 1% over inflation.

        If I were to make a protect people policy around this, I would instead make a policy that minimum payments must pay down the card in x number of years (1 or 2). This would keep people's balances lower because though would get approved for as large a cap.

        If one needs more than 2 years to pay off a purchase, go get a term loan.

        I'd probably do something similar for payday loans too. Basically make it a requirement that each payment reduces the principal by some defined percent (even if it's only 1%).

        • If I were to make a protect people policy around this, I would instead make a policy that minimum payments must pay down the card in x number of years (1 or 2). This would keep people's balances lower because though would get approved for as large a cap.

          Just yesterday I happened to take a good look at the most recent statement for one of my CCs. On it, there was a section that told me that if I stopped using that card and paid it off with only the minimum monthly payment it would take 14 years to pay it
        • What happens when the person can't afford this new minimum payment amount?

          Example, I lose my job. I need to finance life for a bit till I get my next job. Yes, I should have backup savings, but most people don't. I take out debt on a credit card because I can afford the $300 minimum payment because I can use some of the 10k cash out on that payment. But if that payment is $800+ a month because I my minimum payment period is 1 year, I might not be able to afford that.

          Sometimes if you are broke, having a low

      • I've seen some research showing these downsides. It makes sense in a lot of ways. Someone who gets into $10k of credit card debt at 30% might end up with a loan at even higher effective rates (with fees and stuff) from a cash advance/pawn shop. I'm not sure if I entirely believe it because it takes a lot more effort and intention to get a cash advance than to use a credit card.

        Even still, the fact that there are some examples of this negative outcome means that we should probably gradually reduce credit

      • Either what you said or they will just dramatically raise existing fees and/or impose new ones. Either way they will get their money or they will go out of business. Government needs to stop meddling in the free market for credit and most other arenas too actually.
      • 1. Government raises interest rates to fight inflation 2. Interest rates rise 3. People complain about high interest rates 4. Government caps interest rates 5. Financial institutions start denying lines of credit to high risk borrowers 6. People complain that they can't get credit 7. Government forces banks to take on high risk borrowers 8. High risk borrowers default 9. Financial institutions need bailouts 10. Government creates money to bail out financial institutions 11. Inflation increases 12. Goto step
      • The wealthy aren't carrying credit card balances, so the credit card companies aren't making anything off them except the low swipe charges the businesses pay. They NEED the poor having credit cards and revolving debt to make any money. I haven't had a balance on any of my cards in years, the credit card companies aren't too particularly fond of me as they only make those swipe fees off me.
      • A 10% cap on interest means only the wealthy and folks with credit scores north of 750 will get a credit card. Not necessarily bad, but I can see folks bitching about how the poor are being frozen out of credit markets.

        Want to see what will happen to people that can't get credit cards? Go to the ghetto. Look at all the check cashing and "E-Z Money!" title loan places. Legalized loan sharking that makes credit card rates look gentle. THAT is what will happen to people that can't get a Visa or Mastercard. They'll end up paying more money and get further in debt and at higher rates.

      • I have an 830ish credit score, but still have interest rates of 20% or more. I pay my statement balance every month and haven't paid a dime of interest in years, however, it would be nice to be able to very occasionally put something big on there without these crazy high rates.
        • For large purchases, one might consider personal loans, which have interest rates significantly lower than that. For example, replacing my A/C unit, most of it will be paid in cash from savings, but a bit will be done via a personal loan at well under 20%, which will get paid off fairly quickly. When interest rates go back to lower levels, I'll refinance, and if any balance of that loan outstanding, I'll just fold that into the mortgage.

      • by eth1 ( 94901 )

        A 10% cap on interest means only the wealthy and folks with credit scores north of 750 will get a credit card. Not necessarily bad, but I can see folks bitching about how the poor are being frozen out of credit markets.

        Or the cards for people with low credit will just charge annual fees instead. Which is actually worse - at least you can normally avoid the interest by keeping it paid off, but you can't avoid the fees.

        The only thing that we know for sure is that the companies won't accept at hit to their profits.

      • Or the people with less than stellar credit will have limits of $200.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by RobinH ( 124750 )
      The government's primary job is to take care of 3 things: defense, criminal law, and civil law. That's the bare minimum to run a country, and I would argue that the US has these three things covered 100% (and defense at about 300%). Everything above that is optional, and isn't really the choice of the government, but the choice of the people in what they, collectively, want to fund from taxpayer dollars. So when you say "our government insists on not doing anything to help the common man," that's incorre
      • The government's primary job is to take care of 3 things: defense, criminal law, and civil law. That's the bare minimum to run a country, and I would argue that the US has these three things covered 100% (and defense at about 300%). Everything above that is optional, and isn't really the choice of the government, but the choice of the people in what they, collectively, want to fund from taxpayer dollars. So when you say "our government insists on not doing anything to help the common man," that's incorrect. The correct statement is, "the majority of the American people have collectively decided not to do as much as *you* would like to forcibly take money from some people and redistribute it to other people." After all, the common man is free to do home repairs if he likes. The idea of collecting a bunch of money from everyone else to then pay someone to come and fix your house... sure, that sounds good for you, but maybe not to the rest of the people. But keep living in your fantasy land where you never have to think about where stuff actually comes from.

        This argument of yours falls apart pretty egregiously when it comes to big business being handed money to do more than just operate. Hell, sometimes they even get our money handed to them just to set up shop. I'm more of the mind that *IF* our government is going to insist on shoveling money at the business sector every few months, perhaps it's time they shovel just a tiny portion of that same money back at the people who pay into their coffers. Or they could stop shoveling massive piles of cash at the busi

  • by linuxrunner ( 225041 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @11:27AM (#65276447)

    Now I'm all for limiting and lowering as I feel these credit cards have become predatory, but capping never works. That's basic economic shit, but we've always known that most of those in politics don't understand economics.

    Instead keep in x amount of % points over the fed funds rate and set it similarly as mortgage rates. It will go up and down with interest rates.

    I know we feel as if we will never see over 10% rates ever again, but heaven forbid we be forward thinking with our rules. /s

    • Now I'm all for limiting and lowering as I feel these credit cards have become predatory, but capping never works.

      Up until 1978, the U.S. had usury laws which did exactly that. As far as I can tell, the US economy worked..

      historical information here: https://www.nasdaq.com/article... [nasdaq.com]

  • If the president doesn't have to pay his bills then why should I?

  • I like my rewards. I am a responsible individual. I do not want them taken away because others make bad decisions.

    Are they predatory? Sure. But you will not solve anything by doing this - you will only hurt those who can control their spending habits.

  • ... at least not under this administration. Regardless of its merits - and I have my doubts about those - this legislation will never be passed by the politicians who moved to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

  • The idea of limiting credit card interest rates is not a bad one, but I question the wisdom of hard-coding a number, any number.

    Indexing tends to make for laws that remain more relevant. Considering that she is proposing 10% at a time that the prime rate (PR) is 7.5%, that puts her target between 1.25*PR and 1.5*PR.

    There may be a cause for discussing the exact multiplier, but things like this should be linked to some index.
  • In TrumpWorld, this is sadly ironic.

  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2025 @12:31PM (#65276653)

    So when the prime rate goes up and the CCs interest rate hits their cap, the result is that credit dries up. We really need politicians to complete a class in economics before being allowed to run for office.

  • Cut the swipe fees to 1% with a maximum cap per transaction say $5.

    That would do us all some good.

  • If you want to prevent people from going into debt they can't get out of, it doesn't help to make it easier to get into debt. The real purpose here is to screw the banks.

    If they really wanted to help people avoid getting into debt, they would rein in the ability of the credit card banks to extend credit to people who won't be able to pay it back.

    • by whitroth ( 9367 )

      "Screw the banks"? Credit card interest rates *used* to be far lower... and, IIRC, the card I have from a credit union is 9%, not the 25% that the big banks charge.

      No, the purpose is to fight back against the gouging banks with their MBAs demands for eternally-increasing profits.

  • If you cap credit cards at 10%, then when the Fed raises or changes rates the whole financial system breaks down. Imagine a new mortgage is 12% but a credit card is stuck 10%. Yea, the system starts to go crazy. Any kind of cap MUST be a floating rate. If you said 10% over fed funds rate, that would work besides having the usual problems with price controls. In the end the use and non-payment against high interest rate credit cards are actually an education problem. Sadly, I can even split my cup of coffee
  • Business is business, keep the regulators out of it - HOWEVER, make law against the ability to charge interest on interest. You have debt? then you have interest as a separate line item that can't itself have interest charged on it!

  • I would much rather they legislate requiring the swipe fee be passed directly to the customer on their bill.

    Interest rate matters less when the customer can be informed of the true cost for using that card.

    And cash payers can finally stop helping subsidize the credit card middleman.
    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      Interest rate matters less when the customer can be informed of the true cost for using that card.

      True. I pay zero interest. Because, other than as a convenience, I always have the money in the bank to pay for my purchases. Credit cards also offer some (legally mandated) protections that debit cards do not. So the interest rates don't affect me.

      Ideally, I'd like to see all CC users cover their own expenses, including those quietly paid by retailers now. But if you plug every loophole, credit cards will become unprofitable for the banks. And they'll stop offering them. That will just move us to an all c

  • One of the news podcasts was ascribing the high interest rates to the fact that all the rewards that CC companies give back to consumers is reducing their margins, so they jack up interest rates to make up for this "loss". As a result, those unfortunate enough to have to carry over interest subsidize those who are racking up the rewards. In a similar way, those who like to use cash are effectively subsidizing the rewards of CC users at stores that charge the same price for cash and CC.

    The only benefit of
  • And CC companies will do away with perks and other bonuses, they'll also start biking you for that credit card

  • If they're predatory, then why can't less predatory people step in?

    What prevents better lending?

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