# Credit Card Rate Caps and the Credit Card Competition Act: The Right Problem, the Wrong Tools?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/consumer-finance-monitor-71869/credit-card-rate-caps-and-the-credit-card-competition-act-the-right-problem-the-wrong-tools
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/consumer-finance-monitor-71869/credit-card-rate-caps-and-the-credit-card-competition-act-the-right-problem-the-wrong-tools.md
Podcast: [Consumer Finance Monitor](https://stenobird.com/podcast/consumer-finance-monitor-71869)
Published: 2026-03-05T15:36:00+00:00
Episode link: https://consumerfinancemonitor.libsyn.com/credit-card-rate-caps-and-the-credit-card-competition-act-the-right-problem-the-wrong-tools
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/consumerfinancemonitor/CFM0908.mp3?dest-id=785513
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/consumer-finance-monitor-71869/episodes/credit-card-rate-caps-and-the-credit-card-competition-act-the-right-problem-the-wrong-tools
Duration seconds: 3110

## Resource

We are releasing today on our Consumer Finance Monitor podcast our host Alan Kaplinsky's discussion with Marisa Calderon, President and CEO of Prosperity Now, about two high-profile policy proposals raised or embraced by President Trump as part of a broader populist affordability agenda: 1. A nationwide 10% cap on credit card interest rates for one year. 2. The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), long championed by Senator Dick Durbin which would require large credit card issuers to enable at least two unaffiliated payment networks (only one of which could be MasterCard or VISA) on their cards. Each proposal is framed as pro-consumer. Each has generated significant pushback from banks, card issuers, and trade associations. However, even consumer advocacy groups have raised serious questions about the wisdom of such initiatives. Prosperity Now is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing economic mobility, with a focus on those facing economic barriers. Each raises fundamental questions about how to balance affordability and access in the consumer credit market. Our discussion focused on a central theme: affordability is a real and pressing concern, but policy design matters enormously. Credit Card APRs: A Real Affordability Pressure As Calderon emphasized, policymakers are not wrong to focus on credit card interest rates. Average credit card APRs now hover around 22%, up sharply from roughly 13% a decade ago. Approximately half of cardholders carry a balance, and many rely on credit cards not for discretionary spending, but as liquidity bridges, covering emergency medical bills, car repairs, groceries, and other essentials. For lower and moderate-income households, credit cards are often the only readily available, regulated source of short-term liquidity. That…

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