Photo by Síle Moloney
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), a Democrat, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13), a Republican representing Florida, introduced legislation that would immediately cap credit card interest rates at 10%. U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an independent representing Vermont, and Josh Hawley (R-MO), a Republican representing Missouri, introduced companion legislation last month in the Senate.
According to the congress members, while banks borrow at the federal interest rate of 4.25%, credit card interest rates have nearly doubled over the last decade to 23.8%, allowing credit card companies to reap massive profits while consumers struggle to keep up with debt.
“Credit cards with high interest rates regularly trap working people in endless cycles of debt,” said Ocasio-Cortez, who represent parts of The Bronx and Queens, “At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, we cannot allow big banks to shake down our communities for profit.”
She continued, “During his campaign, President Trump pledged to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. We’re making that pledge more than a talking point by introducing legislation to protect working people from remaining trapped under mountains of debt.”
For her part, Luna said, “I’m proud to be the bipartisan co-lead to this legislation. For too long, credit card companies have abused working class Americans with absurd interest rates, trapping them in an almost insurmountable amount of debt. We need a fair solution – and that means getting rid of the status quo and putting a reasonable cap on interest rates.”
The full bill text is available here.
In 2019, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders introduced the Loan Shark Prevention Act to impose a 15% federal cap on interest rates.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
Not a good idea. They need to cap the usually fee to about 5 percent over prime. If you cap it at 10 percent then if interest rates skyrocket nobody will be able to get a card. I doubt if the prime would rise above 6 percent but it could happen. They could cap it at 10 percent with some relief if the prime skyrockets.
A big thank you to Ocasio-Cortez and Luna. You and Sanders couldn’t get it done under Biden but with Luna and trump…I bet you get this fixed for the people.
Great Idea, capping credit card interest rates would be good for everyone!
Thank you for tackling these banks with their incredibly high interest rates
15% is even too high!! I have no credit card debt and don’t plan on having any,but millions do and they should be protected! I do have a capitol one card that I pay off monthly but the rate is 29% if I don’t pay it off! 29% rate for someone that has a 830 credit score! WOW 😮 that’s ridiculous!
People being forced to use credit cards is one of the things that kept the economy from being even worse under Bidenomics. Why should banks be forced to charge less than the losses they suffer do to failure to pay?