President Trump calls for one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%

NEW YORK (CBS, KYMA) - President Donald Trump is calling for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%, beginning as soon as next week.

Currently, Americans pay an average credit card interest rate of about 20%, with the average balance per borrower at around $6,500.

CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger says the president's plan could save cardholders a lot of money.

"If you had a $5,000r balance and you were say, had 24% interest because 10 is the average so we'll use 24, you're paying a lot of your payment towards interest itself, $100 a month. If we slapped a 10% cap on that, it would reduce the amount of interest to $41 a month and guess what, that saves you about $700 a year in interest."

Jill Schlesinger, CBS News Business Analyst

President Trump has not yet provided details about how he would enforce a 10% cap, or whether the plan would apply to new or existing balances.

Some analysts argue the move could hurt low-income consumers and those with low credit scores, driving them toward less regulated more costly alternatives, like buy now, pay later loans.