Some billionaire CEOs and banking groups balked at President Donald Trump’s proposed one-year 10% cap on credit card interest.
Not SoFi CEO Anthony Noto.
In an X post on Saturday, Noto wrote that the cap could encourage consumers to shift from credit cards to personal loans.
“If this is enacted—and that’s a big if, though part of me hopes it is—we would likely see a significant contraction in industry credit card lending. Credit card issuers simply won’t be able to sustain profitability at a 10% rate cap,” Noto wrote. “Consumers, however, will still need access to credit. That creates a large void—one that @SoFi personal loans are well positioned to fill.”
Noto wrote that personal loans could be an alternative for consumers looking to address debt.
“Also if this scenario plays out, underwriting discipline and borrower education become even more important,” Noto wrote.
Trump called for the cap in a Truth Social post on Friday, writing that his administration would “no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies” charging interest rates of 20% to 30% or more.
Enacting the proposed cap would require an act of Congress. Additional details about the proposed cap haven’t been released, but it has drawn concern from various corners of the financial world.
Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO and founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, called the decision a “mistake” in a now-deleted X post on Friday.
“This is a mistake President,” Ackman wrote. “Without being able to charge rates adequate enough to cover losses and to earn an adequate return on equity, credit card lenders will cancel cards for millions of consumers who will have to turn to loan sharks for credit at rates higher than and on terms inferior to what they previously paid.”
Ackman shared a separate X post on Saturday, writing that reducing credit card interest rates was a “worthy and important” goal, but still disagreed with the cap.
“My concern about capping rates at 10% is that doing so will inevitably cause millions of Americans to have their cards cancelled as credit card companies lose the ability to adequately price subprime credit risk,” Ackman wrote. “Consumers denied credit cards will be forced to turn to loan sharks whose rates and terms will be vastly worse for borrowers.”
Several banking associations — including the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association — also criticized the proposed cap in a joint statement on Friday.
“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives,” the statement said. “We look forward to working with the administration to ensure Americans have access to the credit they need.”
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