Trump credit card plan would be ‘disaster’, JP Morgan boss Dimon warns
The boss of one of the world’s biggest banks has warned that US President Donald Trump’s proposal to cap credit card charges would be an “economic disaster”.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the plan would strip the credit of the majority of Americans and hit restaurants, retailers, travel firms and schools.
This month, Trump wrote on Truth Social that credit card interest rates should be capped at 10% for one year, starting Jan. 20.
The cap has not yet taken effect, and the president has not said how it might be introduced or whether such a move would be legally enforceable.
Asked about the cap at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Dimon said: “It would be an economic disaster, and I’m not making this up because our job is… we can get through this in the meantime.”
He said capping credit card interest rates at Trump’s proposed 10 percent level would be “drastic” and would cut off access to credit for 80 percent of Americans, adding that it was “their backup credit.”
A survey of senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who support such a cap, said that if Trump goes ahead with the plan, it should be tested in their home states of Vermont and Massachusetts.
Dimon added: “It’s not going to be the credit card companies that are crying the loudest; it’s going to be the restaurants, the retailers, the travel companies, the schools, the municipalities because people are going to miss their water payments.”
Senior JP Morgan executives, including Dimon, have previously warned that a 10% interest rate cap would seriously harm consumers and have added their voices to criticism of the proposal.
Trump doubled down on his offer in a statement to business news channel CNBC on Wednesday: “I’ve gotten calls from credit card companies, people who are actually my friends, and I’m nice to them.
“I have great respect for them, but they make a lot of money, they need to give people a break.”
US banking associations said capping interest rates would make it harder for people to access credit and would be “devastating” for millions of families and small businesses.
The average interest rate on credit cards in the US is approximately 20%.
Trump called for a 10 percent limit in a statement on social media on Jan. 13, reviving an idea he floated during the 2024 presidential campaign.
“Effective January 20, 2026, I, the President of the United States, am calling for a 10% one-year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates,” he wrote. “Please know that we will no longer allow the American people to be ‘robbed’ by the Credit Card Companies.”
Social media sharing It scared investors in credit card companies Shares of American Express, Visa and Mastercard fell, as did British bank Barclays.
