Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has introduced a bipartisan bill to cap credit card interest rates at 10% due to surging consumer debt and interest rates. Average credit card APR has nearly doubled since 2003, exacerbating the debt burden on Americans, with total credit card debt peaking at $1.2 trillion in late 2024. As more consumers struggle with payments and resort to minimum payments, indicators of financial stress grow. Ocasio-Cortez emphasizes that high rates trap workers in debt cycles, advocating for sustainable solutions against profit-driven practices of large banks.
"Credit cards with high interest rates regularly trap working people in endless cycles of debt," Ocasio-Cortez said in a press statement. "At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, we cannot allow big banks to shake down our communities for profit."
The average annual percentage rate on credit balances has nearly doubled in the past decade to 21% in 2024 from 12% in 2003, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
More people are falling behind on their monthly payments and the number of active credit card users only making the minimum payment on their monthly credit card statement has reached a record high, showing signs of consumer stress."
The total amount of credit card debt has ballooned to $1.2 trillion in Q4 of 2024 up from $720 billion in the same quarter of 2004, per the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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