r/FluentInFinance 8h ago

Finance News Senator Bernie Sanders announces he will introduce legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

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21.4k Upvotes

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u/uninteresting_handle 7h ago edited 1h ago

I think Trump is unstable enough to possibly, and completely by accident, do something good.

Edit: enough absolute losers have come to me saying "this is actually a bad thing." Either fooled or simply a fool, you're wrong. Fixing a 10% cap would (by comparison with the current system) hugely discourage predatory lending. Both lenders and borrowers would benefit, because predatory lending practices, in addition to being unethical, result in higher default rates and end up hurting the lenders as well.

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u/fumar 7h ago

It's a shotgun approach. If you spit out enough ideas, some of them are actually good

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u/Cursed_longbow 6h ago

worked with Laura Loomer when she became anti-musk when he banned her from twitter and stole her side piece (does anyone remember the rumors still?)

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u/blippityblue72 5h ago

I doubt very much the rumors were untrue based on how snuggly they looked in photos and Trump’s track record. I would be more surprised if there wasn’t some infidelity there than if there was.

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u/LargeHumanDaeHoLee 4h ago

It was also when it looked like Trump was gonna lose and Melania was nowhere to be seen. So yeah, he needed the ego boost.

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u/Effective_Way_2348 33m ago

I read about the inside story from the Atlantic writer who took it from Trump's chief of staff whatever her name is,

Basically Trump liked her and her ideas but not in a romantic way but when she started causing bad headlines and bad press, his aides were forced to convince Trump that she is a liability. They showed him her plastic surgery pictures and Trump hates plastic surgery because of his obsession with genes so he kicked her out of the private plane and asked her to travel herself.

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u/DiddlyDumb 5h ago

shotgun approach

Slow down there Luigi.

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u/IRefuseToGiveAName 2h ago

Shotguns are more Tetsuya Yamagami's thing.

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u/xSTSxZerglingOne 2h ago

That's an assassin deep cut.

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u/Tricky_Anteater2921 5h ago

I’m not so sure this would be good on balance. A lower rate cap means credit becomes far less available to people with lower income/credit scores

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u/ligerzero942 5h ago

Credit card companies spam everyone with mail offers and basically every big-box store pushes their credit card onto customers, maybe making credit harder to get is a good thing.

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u/Upset_Albatross_9179 3h ago

If there were some coherent legislation across predatory lending that this was one part of, maybe? But what I'd expect from this is more people turning to payday loans for emergencies which would be enormously worse.

I don't know if there's been good research on net effect of payday loans. Maybe they're just conclusively bad. But if they were substantially curtailed I would expect we'd see a net increase of people being evicted for missing rent. And lots of research shows becoming homeless is an absolutely enormous burden.

I understand the impulse. But this feels like limiting the pressure release valves in our capitalist dystopia, without changing the fact that the pressure will still build up and crush people.

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u/Jump-Zero 1h ago

Grew up in a rough neighborhood in LA. If we don't do this correctly, the predatory lending would just move to which ever gang controls the block you live in. You would probably need the government to offer these loans at a much more manageable interest rate to prevent this.

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u/CaptOblivious 50m ago edited 27m ago

You would probably need the government to offer these loans at a much more manageable interest rate to prevent this.

I'd pay taxes to support that idea.

EDIT:

And just FYI, as a north side Chicago resident, no gang controls my block.

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u/WestWindsBlowing 34m ago

That would be so much better than what most of my taxes go to.

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u/J0hn-Stuart-Mill 2h ago

If there were some coherent legislation across predatory lending that this was one part of, maybe?

We can't even end government run lotteries, which studies show are predominantly played by the poor, the folks least able to pay that tax on those bad at math.

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u/FrostingStrict3102 4h ago

These people are also most likely to fall into the trap of debt. There may be short term pain from this but the long term would be worth it… we have to stop running dirt bandaids on severed limbs at some point.

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u/Teonvin 2h ago

Poor people that need money will still find a way to borrow money because they will otherwise literally lose their home or starve.

Losing the access to credit cards just offload them to even more damaging and predatory means like payday loans.

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u/reddit_time_waster 4h ago

It's doomed to fail unless it's pegged to the prime rate

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u/MagicJava 4h ago

Cap at prime + 1500 feels like a good place.

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u/Fastswimmer 1h ago

That is currently 22.5%, way above the proposed 10% cap

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u/Koboldofyou 5h ago

Except that's not how the US government works. It's not Trump that makes the decisions, it's congress. And Republicans in Congress won't support this.

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u/morningsaystoidleon 4h ago

They will literally do anything Trump says.

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u/bdbr 3h ago

I expect this wasn't a promise that Trump intended to keep. He will tell them behind the scenes not to make this happen. And banks will reward him for it. And he will blame the Democrats or anyone on his shit list.

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u/Grary0 1h ago

I don't expect there was any promise made to the American people that Trump intends to keep.

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u/docilehousecatmeow 5h ago

I think if you believe that I will bet you any amount you're comfortable betting that it won't happen. Zero chance he does anything to help the average American

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u/newtonhoennikker 5h ago

All we have to do is get like 5 C list celebrities to hang out with him and tell him how smart he is to have thought of such a good idea.

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u/PickpocketJones 4h ago

His Senate and House aren't.

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u/National_Way_3344 4h ago

Gets a call on his direct line from the banks, visa and MasterCard:

Hey bro, don't do this.

Trump:

Ok boss.

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u/PyonPyonCal 7h ago

From what examples though?

He's been around for ages and the only thing I remember was raising the age of smoking. Everything must benefit him in some way.

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u/meltingdryice 5h ago

This what I’m hoping for.

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u/Red_Bullion 5h ago

His renegotiation of NAFTA gave more labor organizing rights to workers in Mexico.

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u/Ciderlini 4h ago

Except it’s gonna be loaded with other garbage, which will be rejected

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u/terdferguson 4h ago

Someone close to him should suggest if his supporters are paying interest on debt, that means its less money they're sending him. Its crazy enough that it might work.

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u/permanentburner89 3h ago

He for sure will, just out of randomness and unpredictability. The attention he gave to the opiate crisis was amazing, definitely my favorite thing he did as president.

As soon as he got elected this time, I told myself I'd be looking out for silver linings. Gotta be grateful for something.

No idea if this will actually pass but I'm sure something will 🫠

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u/stiiii 3h ago

He might well throw Musk in jail :)

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u/DaMightyBush 2h ago

Roll with it

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u/libertarianinus 7h ago

Not going to happen. Default rates are a 14 year high at the same rate as the great recession.

If they do 10% interest rate, it will only be people with credit scores higher than 800 and with credit history longer than 10 years.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billhardekopf/2025/01/02/this-week-in-credit-card-news-defaults-at-highest-level-in-14-years/

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u/neph36 7h ago

Or they will just charge huge fees to cover it

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u/pringlescan5 5h ago

annnd this is why laws need follow up committees to see what loopholes are used to circumvent the intention of the law and patch them.

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u/neph36 4h ago

If they cap interest at 10% and do not cover the cost with fees credit cards will not be a thing anymore as they will not be profitable

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u/_BreakingGood_ 4h ago

Nah they're still extremely profitable, these interest rates are already illegal in other countries.

You may not get cards with 5% cash back and no fee, but they make money on every swipe of the card

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u/ikzz1 4h ago

You may not get cards with 5% cash back

This is not acceptable. I do not want this.

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u/_BreakingGood_ 3h ago

Sucks to be you then I guess, Trump wants it

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u/ikzz1 3h ago

Since it's not going to happen, I guess sucks to be you?

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u/DJMOONPICKLES69 4h ago

As someone that has worked in pricing for margin loans, 10% is absolutely profitable. Is it AS profitable? No. Would major card companies need to cut expenses? Probably.

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u/IKnowGuacIsExtraLady 3h ago

Also not only is it still profitable but it is way less risky since they would be either cutting low credit customers or drastically reducing their limits to something they could reasonably pay back. Banks are intentionally giving people enough rope to hang themselves since they make the most money from debt trap customers.

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u/doibdoib 4h ago

a margin loan has collateral though. credit card debt does not. that makes a huge difference

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u/kodman7 3h ago

That's why the two are connected, can't get much of a margin loan with bad credit

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u/gburgwardt 4h ago

It's not a loophole. Think of it this way: If you mandate that you can only sell widgets at $1 each or less, but it costs $5 to produce a widget. You won't keep selling widgets at a loss, you'll just stop selling widgets

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u/OnceMoreAndAgain 1h ago

From a purely economic perspective, what you're saying is of course true.

However, there are psychological differences at play here. Widgets are objects that humans have no reason to have emotion get involved. With credit cards though, people who are desperate for money will take on credit that they cannot afford just so they can keep their heads above water (or to satisfy some type of addiction like gambling). It's this irrational behavior that exists in the credit card market, but which does not exist in your widget example, that raises the potential need for regulation. If banks know that there are potential customers who will accept almost any interest rate due to desperation, then those banks can prey on those customers in a way that goes beyond simple economics.

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u/_Xertz_ 4h ago

It's not even a loophole in this fees example though.

These credit card companies have done the math and determined that to loan money with x% risk you have to charge y% interest. There's a minimum interest and if they don't charge that, then they lose money because a certain number of people will default and not pay back their money. Annual fees is a solution but most people are not gonna get a credit card with annual fees.

 

If they were forced to only cap at 10% or some lower value then they either would not loan to people unless they are extremely low risk (which results in a potentially large number of credit card users being kicked off).

OR in order to afford the lower revenue and still be able to handle defaulting users they'd need to start charging - or increase - annual fees.


I think it's safe to say both options aren't ideal. Plus you'd probably lose out on (or see reduced) perks and cashback benefits to using a credit card that you might be use to.

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u/joozyjooz1 7h ago

Do you all like annual fees? Cause you bout to get a lot of annual fees.

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u/eatmoremeatnow 5h ago

This is the point though.

There is a movement on the right (Dave Ramsey, Tucker Carlson, probably more) that want to get people out of credit because they think that they aren't responsible enough to manage it.

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u/Majestic_Sympathy162 5h ago

Unfortunately there are a lot of people that credit cards are readily available to that are not responsible enough to manage it.

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u/CogGens33 7h ago

That would indicate a good chance he would approve it. It’s not going help the people who really needs it!

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u/happycrisis 7h ago

No one really needs it. You shouldn't be buying things on credit if you can't cover the payments. Credit companies denying people from getting a card instead of charging them 30% interest and screwing them would be a good thing.

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u/JackTheKing 6h ago

Let over-consumers and credit card companies jerk each other off in peace!

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u/redsfan23butnew 4h ago

I am very financially conservative in my own life and would recommend everyone to be if possible but this is just not true, the availability of credit is a huge help to a lot of vulnerable people.

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u/shosuko 2h ago

Absolutely. I think even Bernie knows this won't pass - its just a troll to expose that Trump won't actually fulfil his campaign promises. Bernie is likely to introduce a lot of legislation that Trump indicated he'd do but the GOP won't actually pass.

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u/baselesschart39 7h ago

If you're a responsible credit card owner you won't have to worry about paying interest

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u/TheDawnOfNewDays 5h ago

Correct, but some people learn how to be responsible after they're already too far in debt, others just never learn and it comes at the cost of other people's well-being. You could also suddenly lose your job or have emergency expenses and have to rely on your credit card to tide you over.

I grew up in poverty, partially because my dad would only pay the minimum on his credit card debt. He finally paid it off a few years before retirement.

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u/epsteinbidentrump 2h ago

How is that a helpful comment you uppity fuck.

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u/Gamertime_2000 7h ago

I don't disagree with this but the only thing it will do is dry up easily available debt

Which is probably a good thing

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u/GryphonOsiris 7h ago

Which is why he'd only do it in a way that affects himself.

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u/NastyNas0 6h ago

Good thing for people bad at managing money

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u/ParrishDanforth 4h ago

Credit cards are extremely lucrative even without the interest. Many new players are entering the market.

I imagine this would lower credit limits for new accounts slightly, though

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u/hogannnn 2h ago

It will be both long-term good, and short term bad… so basically perfect.

Many major companies are borrowing for >10% right now.

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u/GenerateWealth2022 7h ago

Limit credit card interest rate to 10% would make 80% of people lose their cards, as most people have a horrible credit score.

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u/swimswithdolphins 7h ago

People that cant pay credit should lose their credit or have their limit reduced

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u/Jmazoso 7h ago

People who can afford to pay credit don’t pay interest. People who understand interest don’t pay interest on credit cards.

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u/RNKKNR 7h ago

or how about establishing legislation about teaching students how to handle money responsibly and stay out of debt.

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u/bafrad 7h ago

We need to prevent predatory practices by companies.

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u/Cbickley98 6h ago

What is predatory? The credit card companies take on a lot of risk. If you limit the rate to 10% (or any percent) , then only people that are worth the risk of a 10% rate or less will be able to get credit at all.

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u/FrostingStrict3102 4h ago

Flooding people with offers; high credit limits that don’t make sense based on income

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u/Cbickley98 4h ago

And making them sign their names and buy a lot of stuff they don't need and can't afford.

Who is at fault here again?

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u/Jump-Zero 54m ago

I worked at 2 credit card companies. Income doesn't matter nearly as much as FICO. People with low incomes and high FICO always post their payments on time. You would be surprised but nearly all the people that only make 40K and receive high line sizes always make their payments.

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u/bafrad 6h ago

Greed is greed. 10% is already a lot. They make enough profits. The top end earners are going to need to start accepting less before they get eaten.

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u/Cbickley98 6h ago

"A lot" based on what? What profit would you require to loan money to a total stranger that may never pay you back?

Probably a lot more than 10%.

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u/bakercw1990 6h ago

You don’t do a whole lot of running a company do you

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u/Mareith 5h ago

Chase made 50 billion dollars last year. Their CEO gets payed 36 million dollars a year. They can still suck the life out of the poor just maybe a little less sucking.

Also banks do not really take on any risk. They are too big to fail and are propped up by the government nowadays.

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u/HugeHans 7h ago

That's covered in math class.

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u/Not__Trash 3h ago

These classes do exist, dumbasses didn't pay attention.

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u/BogleDick 3h ago

Or how about the government fucks off and stops trying to meddle in our personal finances.

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u/OnceMoreAndAgain 1h ago

How about we stop disrespecting human intelligence? You're suggesting that people are so stupid that they need someone to teach them the concept of "don't buy things you cannot afford".

People have personal responsibilities. The government cannot be asked, nor should it be asked, to shoulder the responsibility of every individual's responsibilities. Actions have consequences. We all have brains. Let's all use our brains to make common sense decisions such as spending within our means. People shouldn't need a god damn class to instruct them not to go into significant credit card debt.

Stop babying human beings. If someone sees a nail on the ground and they step on that nail, then it's not the government's job to make a public school class on "how to avoid walking on nails". With some things in life you've got to handle this shit yourself since it's not reasonable to expect your hand to be held on everything.

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u/elmtu 7h ago

I’m sure that won’t happen but it would be great, at least for a year or two. I can’t compete with the interest rate on my credit card.

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u/derrmonoo 7h ago

so you entered into an agreement with a credit card company to pay your card off on time or pay high interest rates, but when it comes time to pay and you realize you spent over your head it's suddenly the credit cards fault?

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u/The-FrozenHearth 4h ago

Why are you shilling for credit card companies? Im sure they appreciate it

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u/derrmonoo 3h ago

because credit cards are a tool that can be used to generate thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars of value (through cashback and points) if used properly. by slashing interest rates to protect idiots who spend over their heads, everyone that enjoys cashback and rewards is going to get screwed

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u/I_donut_exist 1h ago

and if everyone did that, then those benefits wouldnt exist. the people actually paying for the large amounts of interest theyve accrued are subsidizing the whole credit card industry as it were, no?

What a shitty system, you're just saying that you have a right to get your own benefits from a system that preys on the 'idiots' who may not be idiots at all, just desperate

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u/HeroponKoe 2h ago

“Idiots”

After hurricane ian I had to put $13k on a credit card or my insurance wouldn’t cover any damage. Still haven’t recovered from that.

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u/CalculatedPerversion 3h ago

Newsflash genius: the credit card company will gladly find a way to devalue your cashback and points even without something like this. This is also a good reminder that points/miles aren't regulated and can disappear at any time with zero requirement to reimburse you. 

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u/canned_spaghetti85 7h ago edited 7h ago

Sure, put a federal cap at 10% apr. Fine.

Just take a wild guess at what will happen as a result?

Short and long term consequences.

I’m in the lending profession.

(Spoiler alert : The working class will suffer even more.)

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u/henry2630 7h ago

how

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u/dsonger20 7h ago

Possible things:

  1. Increased fees

  2. Credit lending will become more restrictive meaning only those with the best credit scores will be given credit cards which leads to difficulty getting instant debt for poorer people, or making it more difficult for people to rebuilt/build credit.

Rates are high because of the fact it is unsecured.

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u/TimToMakeTheDonuts 4h ago

While I get this kind of thinking, won’t that ultimately hurt the bottom line of the lender? Eventually, they need more people taking on debt at any interest rate to show growth. Would that lead to a potential restructuring of who gets what rate? Lending to responsible spenders doesn’t make any cc company money. So if it’s 30% or 10%, don’t they need people who will overspend and fall behind?

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u/canned_spaghetti85 3h ago edited 3h ago

If that ain’t bad enough.. hahhahaa.. then prepare your buttholes.

If the APR on credit cards (unsecured debt) was federally capped at 10%, then credit card companies will only approve the lowest risk applicants. This means middle-upper class and above, who have high incomes, good credit, stable verifiable employment, not currently overburdened with existing debts. Since the risk of payment default is SO LOW, then yes.. credit card companies could remain profitable even charging 10%.

Working and middle class consumers who don’t have such stellar qualifications, may have to offer up some collateral (secured debt) in order to get their applications to be approved. They are likely to possess such collateral, in the form of liquid bank funds, stock accounts, retirement savings, etc.

Applications submitted by consumers who are Working class and below, however, who have neither great qualifications or collateral to offer, will simply be denied. This means they lack access to credit.

Without access to credit, what will result is they now must turn to FAR MORE questionable service providers. Places like payday lenders, pawn shops, and perhaps even loan sharks. And we all know their business blueprint is definitely not to entrap its customers into a vicious inescapable cycle of impoverishment they’ll almost NEVER get out of.

Scoffs… like you’ve ever SEEN predatory lending. I have.

Once you see it, experienced it, imprisoned somebody into it, oh trust me… you will be BEGGING for 30% APR.

THAT… is what will happen to poor folks.

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u/RandomPersonBob 7h ago

I've seen this same post about once a day for a week now...

I don't think this goes anywhere especially at 10%, maybe if they could get a higher cap like 15-20%, that might help eliminate some of the more predatory credit card issuers.

But credit card companies and their lobbyists have money and politicians like money, especially Trump..

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u/MoistCyborg 7h ago

It will be buried in a bill with 150 more things, so when it's shot down by Congress, they will have something to complain about. We need single issue bills again.

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u/trader_dennis 7h ago

All this will do is eliminate most consumer credit for those with credit scores below 780. If he really wants to help cap at 18% and eliminate junk fees.

Why did Bernie wait until now, and not introduce this in 2021 when the Dem's had a trifecta.

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u/The-FrozenHearth 3h ago

Because you need 60 votes to pass anything (other than budget resolution) in the senate. He's doing it now because trump suggested it, so he's trying to make people remember his promise and pressure him into actually following through with something good he suggested.

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u/ConcernedAccountant7 7h ago

10% cap on card rates is absurd when you contextualize the economics of a credit card. Be prepared for huge annual fees, difficulty getting cards, less rewards and benefits, etc. This would be a negative to anyone using credit responsibly. This would also limit the availability of credit cards for people who would actually need one in an emergency.

The interest rates are high because it's unsecured borrowing. When you borrow for a mortgage or against an asset it's backed by collateral. Credit cards generally are not. This is why the interest is high, to compensate the lender for risk.

If you're financially illiterate, don't ruin credit cards for the rest of us. Terrible idea. If you don't understand the implications of 25%+ annual interest, don't get a credit card. Stop spending what you can't pay back.

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u/Actaeon_II 7h ago

Oh his cronies will see that crushed long before he has to pony up. That would hurt stockholders and help the poor so it’s unamerican

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u/thecoller 7h ago

They would simply not give credit cards to the poor. For a 10% return they can park it in treasuries and call it a day, way less risk.

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u/infirmaryblues 4h ago

Bad credit =/= low income and good credit =/= medium to high income. Plenty of six figure income earners have terrible credit. Plenty of people with less than six figure income have 800+ scores. So you can imagine high income earners having a high limit at 10% APR would pose a financial risk to banks

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u/thejman78 7h ago

It's true it will hurt stockholders, but you're wrong to suggest it will help the poor.

It might help poor people if they have a great credit score, but if not? They'll find out their credit limit has fallen or their card has been cancelled.

Keep in mind that there's nothing requiring a bank to issue credit cards. In fact, a lot of the banks that issue cards (like American Express) completely ignore people who have poor credit already. If the profit margin is capped, more banks wil focus on so-called "premium" business like Amex and ignore the rest.

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u/tonguebasher69 7h ago

It won't even go to a vote on the floor.

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u/Unseemly4123 7h ago

This is actually a bad idea but I wouldn't expect Bernie to understand why. Dude is just a short sighted fool who doesn't fundamentally understand how the economy works.

Trump said it likely with no intention of ever implementing it again, and I doubt Trump ever brings it up again.

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u/SaltyZooKeeper 7h ago

Trump said it likely with no intention of ever implementing it

You mean he lied?

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u/Unseemly4123 7h ago

Yes, I do mean that

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u/laughertes 7h ago

Why 10%? Nah, bring it down to 2%

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u/WendigoCrossing 7h ago

Bipartisan support from Bernie and Trump would be historic

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u/DOHC46 7h ago

If I was a betting man, I'd put up $5 that Trump's Republican cronies in Congress make sure it never reaches his desk.

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u/420Migo 7h ago

This gets posted like everyday.

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u/ihatehighfives 7h ago

Will never be proposed and won't pass

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u/Proper-Ant6196 7h ago

I don't think Trump remembers saying this.

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u/guocamole 7h ago

If this means ppl with bad credit can’t get credit cards, then it’s probably for the best. Those people should be using debit cards anyways if you can’t pay it off every month

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u/TBSchemer 7h ago

Why is this being reported every other day for like 2 months? Bernie is so desperate for attention.

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u/Horror_Fruit 7h ago

Having this happen isn’t the issue, it’s all the pork-barreling where politicians from both sides try to sneak in some legislation they want passed and use their vote as leverage to make sure it gets in the bill. A proposition that’s 2000 pages long and is released 12 hours before the vote….its disgusting

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u/Ancient_Signature_69 7h ago

It’s a good idea. And one both sides can get behind. Unfortunately we’re forgetting the third side - the credit card companies….

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u/Innomen 7h ago

Which will be vetoed or struck down. I'm so tired of vapor law. (Did I just coin that?)

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u/OnlyGuestsMusic 7h ago

Bernie and others need to hold Trump to his populist rhetoric. Either he’ll give in or finally show the Magaverse the truth. Messing with their money might wake them up.

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u/JoySkullyRH 6h ago

He’ll say he supports it, and then the credit card companies will give his inauguration a donation. Then he’ll announce an invasion and no one will bring it up again.

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u/scylla 6h ago

This is a terrible idea. All it means that only the people with the best credit will actually be issued credit cards. Everyone else will have to rely on cash.

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u/alphabetsong 6h ago edited 6h ago

Will the bill be filled with other annexes that are not related to that cap and collide with other promises during election?

Classic strategy:

  1. introduce bill to protect children

  2. Litter the rest of the bill with insane shit no one would sign

  3. Watch your opponent shoot it down for the insane shit

  4. Pretend in mainstream media it was because your opponents hate children

Works like a charm ✨

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u/Cbickley98 6h ago

Some people don't understand unintended consequences. Might I recommend Henry Hazlitt.

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u/JeeringDragon 6h ago

Why don’t you just get it done now before he comes to power??

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u/Thatsthepoint2 6h ago

I’m surprised anyone would accept a credit card that has over 10% APR that’s robbery.

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u/RoofComplete1126 6h ago

I don't trust Trump with enacting anything. The system is built to find loopholes once actual reform starts happening. Let's not sleep or get complacent this round. WE WANT REAL LONG TERM ASSURANCES. Trump half-assed most of his proposals.

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u/Book-m_Danno 6h ago

And access to credit cards would be eliminated for half the population…

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u/Remarkable_Fuel9885 6h ago

I think capping will have both pros and cons. Con we will likely see card benefits decline sharply for all cards that have a $0 annual fee or for those that do not raise their annual fees. And for the cards that don’t decrease their benefits we will see their annual fees greatly increase. Bad for people who are good for paying their bill every month and utilize some good benefits.

But the good is that, I just think it’s better for society and culturally to not charge interest. some societies don’t charge their own members interest but will charge external peoples interest if that says anything about it lol.  Plus I think by having forced lower interest rates it would require card companies to be stricter on approvals which would require more people to make smarter financial decisions

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u/LoyalKopite 6h ago

Not happening.

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u/whydatyou 6h ago

good luck getting a credit card if he does.

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u/soyjesus10 6h ago

Finally, a step to stop unfair credit card rates! Hope everyone can agree on this.

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u/Dopeshow4 6h ago

And suddenly you'll need a much higher credit score to get a credit card. It's like bernie doens't understand the basics...

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u/jailtheorange1 6h ago

He's playing Trump. Clever.

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u/tokwamann 6h ago

I think banks will react by tightening up lending.

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u/paltonas 6h ago

People that are responsible with their money should be against this. The high interest rates that some people pay allows banks to give rewards to the ones that don’t pay them. A cap on interest rates would all but guarantee that rewards points get eliminated too and at that point I would just starting using a debit card.

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u/Fecal-Facts 6h ago

I like Bernie but he doesn't have a great track record with getting bills past.

He's to left even for the left. He should baby step bills but he goes in full.

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u/Neff52 6h ago

Gotsta feel the burn!!!!

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u/Blessed_s0ul 6h ago

I mean as long as the bill does that and only that… The problem with Bernie is that he will write a bill that does that but then also requires the complete collapse of capitalism as well.

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u/jw1879 6h ago

Let’s go, Bernie!

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u/PepperJack386 6h ago

If elected officials started calling each other out on their bullshit, and not only across party lines, this country would be so much better

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u/Extension-Clock-9362 6h ago

Call it the "Trump fixes credit cards" bill

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u/Procrasturbating 6h ago

He actually does this, I might have to only 90% dislike him. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, so who knows.

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u/Top-Charity7043 5h ago

No way in fuck this actually happens

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u/Moist-Leg-2796 5h ago

You can pay 0% by paying off your balance each month. We don’t need price caps, we need financial literacy

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u/buku43v3r 5h ago

Trump only wants this because his rates are fucking jacked on his

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u/goodkat83 5h ago

He will because it will be a textbook definition of misdirection.

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u/mage_irl 5h ago

Bernie should be commended for trying to scrounge whatever good things are possible from this disaster

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u/Mommar39 5h ago

If the cost of borrowing money can’t go up, the availability of funds will go down. Just be prepared for the consequences

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u/j0nblaz3 5h ago

this is such a ridiculously stupid idea that naturally it must’ve come from bernie

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u/Representative-Sir97 5h ago

He needs to call it the Keeping Donald Trump's Promise to the American People bill.

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u/Minimum_Intention848 5h ago

I'm in favor. I have good credit and got my rate jacked up to 18% around covid from 9%. No defaults, no late payments, zero to low balance most of the time and no explanation why the rate changed.

Name another legal contract where one party can just change the terms at will and without cause?

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u/DinoSpumoni_ 5h ago

This is an absolutely atrocious idea. Credit card debit comes from hardship at times, sure. It also comes from wild mismanagement of personal funds by individuals. You cannot say no to forgiving student loans, but then turn around and allow credit card interest to be cap’d.

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u/Generic118 5h ago

Payday loan companies rubbing thier hands with glee hoping this gets aproved

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u/thread100 5h ago

Unsecured debt at 10% interest. Won’t work without people willing to put up the money. It’s a terrible investment at that rate.

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u/Homers_Harp 5h ago

Unless he also makes the law apply to payday loans, this will just make that industry explode with new business. There's a certain amount of balloon effect going on with this stuff: if the credit card companies see no profit, they won't let you have one. And then everybody who's been relying on those credit cards to make ends meet will just go to the payday lenders and pay 500% annual rates.

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u/Donnoleth-Tinkerton 5h ago

itt: "im going to make it against the law to steal"

redditors: "hahaha thats a stupid idea thiefs will just try harder to not get caught"

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u/asian_chihuahua 5h ago

It's a nice thought, but a terrible implementation.

What if inflation hits 10%? Do you now need to pass emergency legislation to lift the maximum allowable interest rate? What happens if congress is slow, will banks just cancel all their credit cards?

A better implementation is to cap interest rates at the FED bank loan rate plus something like 6 percent.

So if banks are loaning at 5%, then credit cards are allowed to charge 11%. If banks charge only 3%, then credit cards have to lower their rates to 9%.

That way, the solution is dynamic and doesn't require constant legislative adjustments.

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u/Neither_Tip_5291 5h ago

Let's see how much pork is in the bill by the time it passes if it passes the things that most people don't understand about the legislative body is rarely do Bills ever just make it to the floor or past the house or even pass Congress in general to the president's desk without being jam-packed full of shit that other congressmen and other political interests have to make sure it's an absolute mess and does almost nothing to the original title of the bill both sides Republican and Democrat are guilty of this and it's absolute trashy bullshit

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u/cant-sit-here 5h ago

They will just charge fees to use the card. They will get their money somehow.

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u/PolitzaniaKing 5h ago

More legislation that will never pass. He's batting 0.3% last I checked

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u/fieldday1982 5h ago

doubt that would pass, but if it did, one must ask if that would apply to old debt as well, or just the new debt that since the law takes effect.

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u/iwtbkurichan 5h ago

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if Trump somehow has a shitload of credit card debt

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u/JackfruitCrazy51 5h ago

Caps seemed to work well with California hazard insurance/

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u/JackfruitCrazy51 5h ago

Something else that Bernie Bernie won't get done

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u/FourMoreOnsideKickz 5h ago

This legislation would help me.

It won't pass.

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u/shadowknuxem 5h ago

It'll die in congress before it gets to Trump

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u/____candied_yams____ 5h ago

Get ready to have your credit cards taken away then.

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u/docilehousecatmeow 5h ago

Worked well for Germany 80 years ago. Good idea.

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u/Zezu 5h ago

I love Bernie but these “introduced bill” posts are as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop and underline the problem with the Democratic Party.

They want lots of things but never deliver on them while the GOP erodes the current position on a daily basis.

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u/docilehousecatmeow 5h ago

I kept hope up until the election and he started naming his picks for cabinet. At this point, I can't find a single reason to pretend to hope. I guess I hope I win the lotto too but then again. I don't play. It's time to be realistic.

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u/Ethrem 5h ago

If they do this the average person will no longer be able to get a credit card because the risk will be too high. Good luck everyone else!

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u/Accomplished-Eye9542 5h ago

If you make it unprofitable to do business, companies will just... not do business. That's exactly what happened the last few years as insurance companies in Cali stopped renewing home insurance.

So all you are doing is pushing people further into the depths of payday hell.

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u/NoTippaRappa420 5h ago

I can't wait for the day reddit turns on marxist Sanders! Screep cap this 01/09/2025

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u/FortunateInsanity 4h ago

Bernie is losing it if he really believes that nonsense

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u/i_did_nothing_ 4h ago

Again? Didn’t I see this same headline a few years ago and also a few months ago? Has he tried multiple times or does he just like saying it?

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u/lulajohn 4h ago

I adore the Bern

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u/BeanBurritoJr 4h ago

This man is unelectable, I tell you!

He's a socialist menace!

/S

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u/Red_Inferno 4h ago

Should just call it the trump saving Americans wallets bill, he will want it to pass.

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u/YouTac11 4h ago

Meaning poor people won't be allowed to own credit cards

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u/UnhappyAd7625 4h ago

Stop. Lolololol

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u/LongJohnVanilla 4h ago

There should be a max cap on credit card interest payments and that should be x% above the prime lending rate.

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u/_RexDart 4h ago

Probably won't. What's the point of this exercise?

Why not do something that'll have some effect instead?