Bank of America is considering whether to offer a credit card with interest capped at 10% for a year, a person familiar with the bank’s thinking told NBC News on Thursday.
President Donald Trump recently called for a universal credit card interest rate cap of 10% for one year, a prospect that has raised alarm among credit card issuers.
Bank of America is also talking with other financial institutions about best practices for lowering costs for consumers, said the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The potential card is just one of several options under discussion, the person said, as Bank of America, America’s second-largest bank, looks for ways to respond to the affordability crisis.
Citigroup is also discussing a credit card with a 10% interest rate, Bloomberg News reported. A spokesperson for the bank did not reply to a request for comment.
Trump first demanded the one-year interest rate cap in a Jan. 9 Truth Social post.
“We will no longer let the American Public be ‘ripped off’ by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%, and even more,” Trump wrote.
“Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10%,” he wrote.
The anniversary of Trump’s swearing-in came and went this week without concrete action on interest rates by either the administration or banks.
Experts say it would most likely require an act of Congress to restrict how much banks and card issuers could charge for credit.
The banking industry warns that any blanket cap on interest rates would make it all but impossible for card issuers to assume the risk of loss that comes with issuing credit cards to people with low credit scores or no credit. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the cap would be an “economic disaster.”
Yet the fact that any big banks are considering a new card offering in response to Trump’s demand underscores how much the relationship between the White House and corporate America has changed in the year since Trump returned to office.
As Trump has launched tirades against various industries, many high-profile CEOs have walked a fine line between trying to placate him and at the same time protect their companies’ bottom lines.
A potential 10% interest credit card appears to be the latest example of an industry’s offering an olive branch to the White House, but not the whole tree.
Many banks and card issuers already offer credit cards with 0% interest for the first year or 18 months after cards are issued. Such offers are typically limited to customers with good credit, however.
It was unclear Thursday how a card with a 10% interest rate would be a better value for customers with good enough credit to qualify for any of the many 0% introductory offers.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg TV that the bank was looking at several ways to address the issue of affordability.
As for the blanket 10% interest rate cap that Trump appeared to call for, Moynihan warned, “If you actually make this a policy, it can re-allocate credit.”
“That will slow down spending, it will slow down credit availability, and that might not be what you’re trying to achieve,” he said.
