Details are scant, and I’m not exactly sure how this would work, but President Trump has proposed a one-year freeze on credit card rates at 10%.
[SOURCE]
As noted by Politico, previous “legislation sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and cosponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) would impose a 10 percent cap on credit card rates for five years. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House.” Yet, unilateral authority by a President does not seem evident.
If anyone has any information on how this could be accomplished, feel free to share. I’m not sure how this can be done.
I am pleased that most of those comments read suggest responsible individuals: not wealthy, living within their means, … I expect most are spiritual and (as some have stated) aware that consumer debt is a trap – set by the devil.
My concern is that Pres DJT has always used leverage personally to enhance his businesses’ returns.
He has often discussed (for many decades) how he understands the virtues of debt – borrow to invest and pay back borrowings with dollars of depreciated value (due to inflation).
To mandate lower interest rates (10% is less than half of the current rate) on consumer unsecured debt is:
i) Insane. Unmitigated, such action will stimulate consumer spending, to be followed by massive consumer defaults, bankruptcies and (sadly, but inevitably) suicides and familial murders;
ii) Likely to increase his polling and that of the Republicans for the mid-terms. Resulting in Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. Unfortunately, most voters vote their self-interest, and economic freedom (if only temporary) is somehow “self-interest” for the majority of voters (those who don’t believe in voting will remain unregistered, e.g., the majority of lawful firearm owners);
iii) Perhaps a strategy to flip select demonrat governors to Republican;
iv) Wholly consistent with various “short-sighted” provisions of the OBBB Act, e.g., no tax on tips. (I still will not be going to diners or restaurants, because I am not going to pay the prices already inflated by self-defeating, vote-buying “minimum wage laws”.) The cynic in me suspects Pres. DJT is “playing” on the stupidity of those who only vote their own self-interest;
v) Possibly a gamble based on estimates of the amount of tariff receipts and lower energy prices from Venezuela (possibly Greenland, Iranian, other oil) entering the US market directly or world market, with a resulting boost to rebuilding an American manufacturing base (I have doubts that concurrent timing is possible);
vi) A scheme to cause credit issuers to cut credit limits and increase exposure to “sub-prime” and “no credit history” applicants (Good luck with that.), or not, thus causing the lower rates to be offset by much lower write-offs (I doubt bankers are that pragmatic, or their incentives will be reset);
vii) … [If I continue, I might get cynical.]
Consumer debt is much different than business debt. Trump has used leverage professionally for several decades. I am old enough to remember when the Trump ventures were on the ropes and filed Chapter 11 for the Casino and hotels in both Vegas and Atlantic city. It wasn’t pretty but it was successful (a successful reorganization of the contracts and debt for those organizations). Debt is indeed a tool if used properly as are our nation’s bankruptcy laws. In other countries bankruptcies go straight to liquidation but the U.S. system is unique in that management gets to retain control and “work things out” with their creditors… in a mini-democracy in action manner… every creditor gets a vote (by class). It is possible to solve many of the worst problems (ahem, IRS) with bankruptcy. Trust me, I’ve been doing bankruptcy/restructuring work for over 30 years.
Consumer debts are exorbitant at 20-30% and an unsavvy consumer who purchases things on credit cards takes a very long path to repayment if they are not paying attention to how expensive each of their relative debts are and not paying down the most expensive debt first (and quickly). Consumer bankruptcies are spiking due to inflation and other factors. This is a boon to consumers (aka the middle class).
Biden gave student loan borrowers an “illegal” holiday. The collection activity on those loans has resumed in full force. This relief will allow, perchance, the government to get repaid on those student loans while the relief is in effect.
Consumer debt is unsecured. The borrower just signs a promise to repay.
Property loans are secured by the value of the asset. If the borrower defaults, the lender can repossess the asset.
Unsecured loans are far more risky for the lender. Their interest rates are higher to compensate for that extra risk.
That’s not the whole story. Depending on the states’ laws, the consumer could lose a lot more than a credit score. They could lose everything they own.
What state are you referring to? I know of no state that permits taking property for credit card default.
Credit cards are unsecured – meaning no property is promised if repayment is not made.
If property is promised in return for a loan against a portion of its value, a lien can be imposed or it can be repossessed – as specified in the loan agreement.
If you’re referring to bankruptcy that is filed by the borrower to clear repayment of debt, not the credit grantor.
Whether we are the same age or I have a few years experience on you, your perspective is valid; albeit not relevant to the substance of my comment.
Allow me to add:
Government deficit spending beginning with Keynesian theory of the FDR era has been a fallacy.
Keynes was clear (I paraphrase): “government stimulus (deficit spending) was only a short term ‘boost’ to arouse the domestic economy”.
The beginning epic battle: fiscal v monetary policy.
Idiot politicians since have attempted both simultaneously. … Then came JFK with his EO allowing federal workers to collectively bargain (followed by the states…) …
Are you old enough to remember the NYC PD, FD, (albert shanker) teachers, sanitation, transit, … et others striking (violence from all in the early ’60s) … ?
How about early ’60s ‘consumer credit cards’ for all (unsolicited through the USPS) ? (JFK then LBJ war stimulus).
I skipped over Gen. Smedley Butler and Pres. Eisenhower (and how many others ?) …
More important, do you recall that in 1913 the 17th Amendment destroyed the republic and established a democracy ? (And, do you remember that ratification of the 17th cannot be documented ?)
What about the “unwritten constitution” drafting first begun circa 1803 via unconstitutional Article. III. court decisions, and then the federal government usurped by SCOTUS shortly after 1868 when the 14th Amendment (just one of the unconstitutional “Reconstruction Amendments” was mockingly ratified). The 14th and 17th since used to usurp government “of, by and for the People”.
No more “republic” (Mr. Franklin, how prescient: We could not “keep it”.); no more representation through our state governor / legislators.) …
I could go on, but I doubt many will read, recall or act upon these truths.
The major problem with CC debt is greed and envy. We want what we want and we want it now. Americans are to materialistic and I’m even chastising myself here. Our box (house) has too much stuff and every Christmas and birthday we just acquire more stuff. If Americans would be content with such things as they have and save for the things they want cc debt wouldn’t be anywhere near trillions of dollars. We pay off our cc every month to avoid debt but we still spend too much on stuff we really don’t need.
We did the same back in the early 1970s and haven’t paid even a penny of cc interest since. Ditto with too much stuff.
The “major problem” is that it is a violation of God’s Law. Known for millennia as an abomination; of the Devil’s traps.
Listen to the US politicians, including Pres DJT, … and do not forget that since WWII the US has financed (and refinanced) the entire world – How many times over ?
But, wait for how many (50+) years has the entire world been living off of the American People and “our” government’s trade deficits ?
Gold, precious metals are not the answer, anymore than fiat money has been. [If you have gold and no one else does, and you want to purchase bread with that gold
“Greed” is not a sustainable life strategy, any more than “socialism/communism/ … ism” is.
Each American (as am I and my extended family) is “f^ck’d”, as are all in the world … And Pres DJT following a “more of the (ole) same”, pursuing a strategy based on a “zero-sum” world (because the majority of peoples live in cultures which are 300 – 1500 years behind the top 50 % of Americans) is not going to preempt the coming … (it does not matter what description you predict … it will be ugly – violent, desperate, … a true spiritual experience).
Self-induced CC debt is the biggest issue. However, consider what happens when your income source(s) start drying up and/or you can’t find work for extended periods of time. Some of us reach a point where all that’s left to avoid a total loss of everything is credit. I’ve been down a road the last 10-15 years like this. And a lot of the root causes of my pain were created by lousy government policies.
And making it worse, it was not merely a one-time hit of no work but a few stretches of on/off … which I may still be in, but the current job does feel more stable.
A temporary reprieve on interest rates would help accelerate digging out for us but I have the same basic question posed here: How does the government even do that and what side effects wold there be if they find a way to do it?
A tax break approach might work. Consider that in a year where you’re out of work then find work later in the year at your old income, you get an initial tax break of sorts because your yearly income is reduced due to the non-work period(s). This can be significant. We had a short time period where our federal withholding was about $1000 less per month even though I was back at regular income. $1000 a month can go a long way toward paying off debt you had to take on during unemployment. But that ends fast once you start a full year of normal income — you have to increase that withholding again to cover the full year.
I wonder if there could be some tax break formula that would look at income fluctuation or employment history to allow you to get a break on those oppressive federal taxes during some period of financial recovery — some way to distinguish between pure consumerism/greed debt and survival debt.
There is truth in blaming the consumer but there is more truth in human nature itself as the problem.
The solution to human nature is God. The solution to human nature is to create policy, practice, custom, culture and law which limits the worst of human nature.
It’s not about restricting freedom. It’s about limiting damage. That’s a very different standard.
Concern troll conflates private business practices with his acts as president of the United States. Trump is a professional in his role and serves it fully. Right now, he is POTUS and serves the interests of the country. If there is any direct or indirect influence or benefit to his family’s business, the media would make the claim and show evidence without hesitation.
Concern troll knows this. Concern troll doesn’t have anything. Concern troll makes vague allegations and allusions.
Trump is taking advantage of the defensive posture of his opponents. He has shocked and awed the world and will now use that to benefit the common people of this country.
Their could be a policy that in order to receive the low rate you suspend your CC use. Problem solved. The Banks already do this for some customers. Check out how policies at the FED favor Banks over Savors ……got to change but no one has ever mentioned because most don’t know. The Banks are not incentivized to lure money from savors.
The exorbitant rates were instituted using the apparently already compromised Joe Biden, amirite?
Deuteronomy 23 v 19-20
You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. 20To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.
For more on the topic visit the link below (word search “Usury”) come to your own conclusions.
https://biblehub.com/search.php?q=usury
Bankers have no loyalty to kin or country. We are all foreigners to them.
I do not know what the interest rates are on student loans are. Its shocking to see the amount of debt there is in just student loans – it is as much as car loans…wth?
Thank you to fellow treeper who posted this:
Broader US Household Debt: Hit $18.59 trillion in Q3 2025 (New York Fed report), up 1% QoQ and ~5% YoY. Breakdown:
Mortgages: $13.07T (up $137B QoQ).Credit cards: $1.23T (up $24B QoQ, near all-time highs).Auto loans: $1.66T (flat).Student loans: $1.65T (up $15B). Household debt-to-GDP: ~68.8% in Q2 2025 (latest FRED data), down from 71% in Q4 2024 but still elevated. As a share of disposable income, debt payments are ~9-10%—below historical peaks but rising with rates.
Most young adults-college grads have these huge loans they will be paying off for many years they are as much as buying a house. Thanks to obummer when he decided the government should be in the student loan business. Lower those interest rates.
I hate interest rates and do everything I can to avoid paying them. POTUS is correct – they do rip people off!
Yes they do however you are not obligated to buy things you cannot pay for up front. Everything except a house loses value. Save for what you want and you will not be a slave to a lender.
Even houses lose value from time to time.
For an undergraduate 6.39%, graduate or professional 7.94% for federal loans.
This is going to smoke out a bunch of hypocritical dems, like Elizabeth Warren who was all in for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
John 2 v 14/15
And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers [b]doing business. 15When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
This is because they were doing it IN the temple i.e God’s house, that was unlawful it wasn’t just because they were money changers. Being a money changer wasn’t unlawful. Israelites couldn’t charge other Israelites (or converts) interest but they could charge foreigners interest. They could also hold something as collateral, although if it was someone’s cloak they had to give it back at night so the person wasn’t cold while sleeping.
10% cap on income taxes too?
Whose business is it what I charge someone else if they want to borrow money from me and we have a mutually agreed contract?
Make the conservative case for this.
I happen to agree with you here. If people don’t like the interest rates on CC pay them off each month or don’t use them at all. I think Trump should concentrate on other things than this.
Part of the reason for high interest rates are greed and part are for higher risk because of liberal lending policy which is also greed. If rates are capped at 10%, you can be sure the lending institutions will seek out clever work-arounds. They may even raise lower rates, like home equity loans for example. Sure, I think interest rates are too high, and so are taxes.
He’s losing his mind completely. He can prohibit charging more than 10% but he cannot compel anybody to issue those credit cards. You’ll just get those cards closed or you’d have to convert them to secured. If lower middle class cannot afford to pay market rate of interest, just prohibit them from obtaining credit cards at all. Right?
This sounds like a win for everyone. Capped rates that cause lenders to restrict credit lines so they are no longer exploiting poor people who will no longer be able to borrow to spend for things they can’t afford. win-win.
Also just talking about the issue can have an impact without an legislation needed. See how the lenders and markets respond as they pay attention to this matter.
It’s a good talking point narrative (win-win/no lose) whichever way it goes. Now, if demonrats jump on the wagon, he can say, welcome aboard, I’m already here.
Re “He’s losing his mind completely. He can prohibit charging more than 10%…”
President Trump is not losing his mind and he’s not stupid. He’s also not “prohibiting charging more than 10%.” He’s merely calling for that. Big difference!
In my opinion, his statement is just the beginning of negotiating future interest rates with credit card companies; and one always start out asking for more than one will accept as part of a final deal.
Maybe credit card rates could be set at 3x the interest paid on savings accounts. You want to charge 30% for a credit card, fine but you must also pay 10% on savings.
This is appealing as I do not think I’ve seen interest on savings accounts higher than about 3% since before I was a teenager.
Exactly. The banks have been ripping us off for a long, long time now. Using our money for nothing and charging us exorbitant interest rates on top of it. Talk about a scam.
That’s the way it used to be before easy credit and they pushed cards on everyone. Not just anyone could get a credit card and there were no “credit scores”. Typically only people with a lot of money could get a credit card or a business with a good balance sheet. You had to prove you were able to pay the money back. Same with loans. You had to have money in the bank and/or some kind of collateral like a house or car or gem stones, etc., a good work history and income that was over your expenses so they knew you were a good risk.
It would also help if banks actually paid YOU interest for using your money. Back in the days just before easy credit happened I had a savings account at a local bank, independently owned, that was paying a little over 6% on a regular account no minimum deposit. Wouldn’t that be nice.
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be”
Motivations and reasonings discussed on substack by Jeff at Coffee and Covid. https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/the-hard-way-saturday-january-10
He covers many different aspect of the news but is ALWAYS upbeat and positive about how things are going in this admin. A great daily read alongside Sundance’s amazing articles. ‘TAW’ is an often-used slogan and it stands for ‘Trump Always Wins’.
My best guess is that the Treasury would get involved. The banks who participate in the program would get some sort of discount on Treasury securities for participating or “buying in” to the program. It is doable. Complicated, but doable.
Yea, we were wondering the same thing. Will it include current credit cards or only newly issued ones 🤔
If it doesn’t include current credit card debt it’s pointless. Worse, it could encourage those caught in the debt trap to take on even more debt.
YAY!!!!
Credit Cards are a Trap!
The Credit card companies want you owing Way more they you can afford to pay off each month. They make trillions on the interest they charge.
Get rid of all your credit cards except for just ONE, and don’t charge any more than you can pay off completely each month or 2 months if you have to buy something big, like a refrigerator or something like that.
I haven’t paid interest on my one credit card in many, many years.
and my credit rating is always around 815.
835 here. 😜
Credit card interest rate caps are set by each state under their usury laws. For example, in South Dakota there is no limit so your rate is whatever you agreed to when you signed the credit card contract. Most states have a usury limit, but they only cover contracts signed with companies incorporated or operating only in the state. If you sign a contract with a firm not resident in your state you have to comply with the terms of that contract regardless of the usury law in your home state.
Congress can do this the same way they made credit card debt non dischargeable in bankruptcy. Of course the banks will retaliate by cutting off credit to higher risk people. On the bright side it will allow much of the middle class to pay up on their debt and maybe demand this policy become permanant.
I use my credit card to help balance my budget because my income does not come in evenly during the year, and my bills such as rates, insurance, electricity etc often arrive during my ‘off’ time. I never authorise any bills from my savings account.
A credit card is also necessary if I want to buy anything online.
Also, Visa checks for unusual activity and notifies me and we have caught some crooks and another time it was a false alarm. I appreciate this service and that I have a line of credit available for emergencies.
These days there are many e-pay and app-based alternatives to buy stuff without cash or credit cards. Many of these are totally unregulated and wouldn’t be considered credit cards:
PayPal Pay in 4
Afterpay
Apple Pay Later
Sezzle
Perpay
Affirm
Zilch
Nelo
Klarna
Zip
Splitit
Sunbit
The federal government is over $38 trillion in debt, keeps increasing its own debt limits, and now it wants to make it even easier for ordinary people to spend more money they don’t have?
Should be permanent. Could be if Congress was not bought and paid for.
If he invoked the Insurrection Act based on the 2020 Election fraud findings that are ready to come out, invokes the
Insurrection Act; Sedition Act & limited martial law to stabilize the economy as a national security measure, since the communist/islamist traitors under Obama, et al,, have committed massive fraud as part of their coup to bring US
down; then Congress enact supporting legislation for his EO?
I would like to hear Scott Bessent’s opinion on this.
I’m a lady many thousands of dollars in debt due to ongoing medical bills. I simply cannot agree with the President on this one. My transactions with the credit card companies (banks) are personal between me and the banks. When I obtained my credit cards, there were terms to which I had to agree in order to get the cards. That’s called a “contract.” I agreed to the terms. I signed my name on the dotted line. I don’t want the Federal government involved in my personal contracts. Or any of my personal business at all, actually.
Would far prefer, Mr. President, that you make Ivermectin available OTC so that I’m not putting thousands of dollars on my credit cards. Or maybe you could expand the “Right to Try” law before I get to Stage 4. In the meantime, I’ll continue to play the balance-transfer game to keep the interest rates at 0 percent.
I wish interest rates were much lower. If they were I could pay off my credit card debt in a reasonable period.
But I don’t see how mandating a temporary reduction solves the problem. It is a government imposed solution which distorts markets and leads to all sorts of unanticipated problems at least as dire as the one it tries to solve.
If you don’t like Mamdani’s rent control schemes you shouldn’t like Trump’s interest rate control scheme.
IMHO
Trump is flailing and bleeding support.
This will not happen, file it with the DOGE and tariff checks!
I am more concerned about the war mongering foreign policy and completely irresponsible fiscal policy.
At this point, I would like to see Vance take over.
Find me one president who has accomplished as much in 1 year as he has.
Find me one period in history where so many entities and the government have been so hostile to working people
Vance and Rubio have improved 10 times since working with PDJT than they did prior.
One day they will be 15% as effective in inducing change as PDJT is.
We are not in a phase as a country to come up with new wonderful ideas. We are under attack, including hypnotizing pysops of our children and have been losing for decades.
Positive change now will cause great resistance.
Do you hear the MAGA base complaining. No they are quietly cheering on the greatest POTUS we have ever had.
How? Well, if Trump says it should be done and the card industry behaves in a way contrary to this, the public will see it and Trump will use his bully pulpit to help the public to hate this industry.
I believe Trump sees the money changing industry is a public enemy serving their interests at the expense of the public. Trump wants to see a “win-win” which is possible but not when there are industries and businesses strive maximums for itself without concerns for the community or its customers.
Where I live one such example comes to mind. Swig. It’s a softdrink cocktail vendor with a unique model. They are drive-thru only and set up shipping containers disguised as restaurants on tiny lots. They offer no parking at all. Instead, customers create huge lines in public and private roads which impede traffic and often dangerously so.
A typical restaurant is a community member which pays its own way, providing access to the public and at least the minimum facilities regulations mandate. (they have to give back to the community or otherwise not be a burden to it)
Swig’s model creates a burden on the community as it creates lines on public and private/commercial roads creating unsafe traffic congestion. The community here is very bothered by it and most will never go there as a customer but people from outside of the community and the state (based on license plate observations) seen to enjoy waiting up to an hour just to get whatever it is they serve there.
Compare with almost any other food/drink vending business you’ve ever seen, even drive-ins, where there is PARKING even if there is no dine-in space. It’s easy to see one is a greedy negative to the public while most are not.
We can’t say the same about the DEBT INDUSTRY. They aren’t there to help.
According to the Coffee and Covid Substack, the situation with insane credit card rates right now isn’t organic. It used to be that states had usury laws cappig how much credit card companies could charge for interest. But due to a 1981 Supreme Court decision, national-level banks can now charge the same rate in all states that they do in one state. Apparently Delaware decided to allow virtually limitless rate hikes, and thus, forced it on the rest of the country.
I’m all for keeping the government out of private enterprise but much like student loans, ultra-high credit rates are predatory and the people signing them often have no idea what it’s going to do to them down the road. And yes, a situation where high risk individuals don’t qualify for a credit card is a far, far better situation than seeing those people trapped in an endless debt trap.
It would change the way the economy works, sure, if fewer things were bought on credit but over the long term, wouldn’t that be a good thing?
Education system does not teach basic accounting including how to balance a check book. Most people don’t even have nor know what a check book is. Many rely on the bank receipt to tell them how much is left in their account.
Give a young person cash, watch their eyes glass over. You’ll help them count back the change.
Or try to explain interest reset to someone refinancing their home.
Remember lenders let you borrow 120% of the value of your home and people did!
We are intentionally being dumbed down.
Do it “voluntarily” or we will tax your profits until they are gone, and audit your books until we find the everything.
How it could be accomplished…. That’s a really nice credit card company you have there. It would be a shame if someone regulated it.
Couple of thoughts:
maybe this is more about exposing opponents of affordability plans, those in dutiful servitude to “big donors”, prior to the mid-terms?
Seems like one of those “good on paper” ideas that in the real world could blow up in your face. For one thing, if we’re all calling for price, wage, interest rate controls from the federal government, then let’s drop the pretense of calling ourselves conservatives. We’re statist central planners at that point.
If people adopted “need” over “want” this wouldn’t be an issue.
Results will be difficulty in getting cards. This could be a good thing inducing people to live within their means. But it will also drive those unwilling to do so to loan sharks.
Reducing interest can’t be done universally because losses from deadbeats would produce big losses.
Interest rates should be tied to repayment risk – as it was before being responsible for irresponsible behavior was racist.
Every person has a credit score based on performance. When going for a loan, that score determines what kind of loan you can get and what the rate should be. Why should everyone be charged the same interest rate on credit cards? This clearly has been banks using the easiest method to harvesting profits without doing their due diligence in assessing risk.
Of course, if they charge interest rates according to risk, they will be accused of racism and redlining. Same reason stores allow shop lifting and raise their prices to paying customers to cover the cost of theft.
This is where legislation is needed. If interest rates are tied to credit scores, banks should be protected from charges of redlining.
By the way, before racism was a thing, when banks carefully evaluated lending risks, 10% of any given population was slow pay or failed to pay. Credit bureaus exist for creditors to share who those individuals are, their histories (did they go through a bad patch but caught up?) and the amount of loss for the credit grantor. My guess now is that number is far higher because people who never should have credit have gleefully abused the privilege- thus the 25% interest rate on unsecured credit cards.
This fails to take into account the issue that CC companies use the income from interest paid by low risk borrowers to cover their losses from high risk borrowers. The interest rates they charge average income against losses with some margin for profit (too much profit possibly). If the income coming in does not exceed the losses from defaults the CC companies will have to find another method of increasing income to cover losses or go out of business. Of course this only applies to current debt the companies hold. If they survive the settlement of current debt then future debt will have to be far more restricted to reduce the margin of risk.
Same scam the insurance companies use to stay in business. Insurance companies rely on income from customers that make few if any claims to cover the cost of customers that make large claims. “Health insurance” has the added benefit of “contributions” from the same taxpayers that make up their customer base.
First glance this would eliminate all of the people that should never have had access to credit because they’re the ones at the high end paying minimum and stacking compounded debt. instead of easy credit maybe we return to layaway like the good ole days
.
During the fallout of 2008 I know many were defaulting on their credit cards . It must have been a big issue for the banks because they were negotiating reduced balances and interest rates like crazy. I personally knew of someone who had a balance over $10000 and the banks took $1200 to settle.
This was at a time when The Credit banks were getting money from the feds to lend. Banks got their money at near 0% yet were getting over 20% on cards. This advantage remains even today and is not an incentive for the banks to offer savors any good returns on their savings or CD’s.
Something has to change at the FED because they should not receive and don’t need this advantage. This hurts Savors especially when interest rates will go down. If the Banks, through policies at the Fed, could receive this kind of advantage I am sure the cap on interest rates could be imposed.
This is a terrible idea. Pay off your entire balance each month and you will not have to pay any interest whatsoever. Your credit card should be used as a convenience in lieu of carrying cash, and not as a source of longer-term financing for purchases.
FYI, high credit card rates have been a problem since the end of the Carter administration, when mortgage interest went as high as 12% and most credit card interest soared to 18%, the max allowed IIRC. So this thing started not so much from corporate greed as from bad national policy and a president that we the people did not like and could not trust.
My own personal opinion is this: If the feds (Congress etc) have the power and authority to deregulate something, they definitely have the authority to regulate it.
My CC average interest rate for a WF Visa was 9.5% the before Congress stepped in to ‘protect me’ from ‘predatory lending and CC interest/fees’.
Day after laws went into effect, rate went to 19%.
Scariest thing anyone can be told is I’m from the government and I’m here to help…