Can bipartisanship survive in Donald Trump’s Washington? Credit cards might offer a way. Trump has talked about capping credit card interest rates — a position also endorsed by progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Warren has signaled an eagerness to work with Trump on the issue. “If Donald Trump really wants to take on the credit card industry, count me in,” she said in a social media post. Sanders, too, is ready to work with Trump on capping the fees. If Trump follows up on his campaign pledge to limit credit rates to 10%, Sanders told The New York Times, “absolutely I will be there.”
“There’s a catch,” Natasha Sarin said at The Washington Post. Americans right now face credit card rates that can climb above 20%, so a new limit “sounds like a win for struggling Americans” who face “hefty costs” when trying to pay down their debt. But the card companies like Visa and Mastercard say rate limits mean they’ll be less likely to issue cards to risky borrowers — who might then turn to payday lenders who charge even higher rates. Credit cards “won’t be as easy to get,” said Sarin.
Bringing Trump to the table
Finding common ground on credit cards is part of the “new progressive strategy for warring with Trump,” said Politico. Democrats like Sanders and Warren can navigate a second Trump presidency by taking his “populist, working-class proposals at his word.” If they succeed, they get credit for “bringing him to the table” on progressive priorities, and if not, “they can bash him for it,” said Politico. If Trump can’t follow through on his campaign promise to cap rates, Warren said, “then he should be held accountable.”
But success in this case means “only people with strong credit ratings would be able to borrow money on their cards,” Tyler Cohen said at Bloomberg. Americans with “lower net wealth, or poorer payment histories” would be blocked from obtaining credit cards “because they would no longer be profitable to serve.” Citizens are more qualified to determine than the government how best to use their financial resources, Cohen said. “Be wary of any politician who sides with the government on this question.”
Will Trump’s ‘populist streak’ win?
The financial markets are betting that “Trump won’t fix high card rates,” said The Wall Street Journal. Following the election card lenders became “some of the best-performing stocks” in evident anticipation of favorable “regulatory changes” under the new president. But there should be some caution on those companies’ part: Trump’s “populist streak” might win out, and so might the instincts of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, who in the Senate co-sponsored a bill to limit rates.
Americans have $1.14 trillion in credit card debt, said CNN. That’s a “record high,” and an average of $6,500 in debt for every single person. But lenders may have good reason to believe that a cap isn’t actually in the cards: Similar plans have often “stalled in Congress.” If a cap passes, said LendingTree analyst Matt Schulz, companies might respond by eliminating credit card rewards programs in order to preserve their profits. “The house,” he said, “always wins.”