Good morning. President Donald Trump’s proposal to quickly cap bank card rates of interest has each supporters and critics. In a social media publish on Jan. 9, Trump known as for a one-year cap on bank card rates of interest at 10% beginning Jan. 20, reviving a pledge from his 2024 marketing campaign because the administration seeks to show progress on affordability.
Supporters argue a short lived cap might ease strain on households dealing with common APRs above 20%.
However economists and financial institution executives warn that the transfer requires approval from Congress and that the coverage might have unintended penalties by making banks extra reluctant to supply credit score, thus slowing down client spending.
“An artificial cap on credit card interest rates is likely to backfire on the White House by making credit less accessible to the cash-strapped households that most need it,” Columbia Enterprise College economics professor Brett Home advised me.
Earnings name discussions
The proposal was a serious matter this week in the course of the earnings calls of America’s large banks. Executives broadly agree a ten% cap would cut back entry to credit score for higher-risk debtors and will have hostile results on client spending and progress, Morningstar director Sean Dunlop advised me.
“I think Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, provided the most context among the firms I cover, alluding to a previous time when President Carter tried to impose interest rate ceilings—and the administration had to abandon its efforts within two months, given the severity of the economic impact,” Dunlop mentioned.
Fraser famous that buyers spend roughly $6 trillion yearly on bank cards and carry about $1.2 trillion in balances. She warned that making card merchandise unprofitable would curtail spending on these playing cards as credit score availability declines, he mentioned.
Different CEOs and CFOs had related considerations:
— JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum mentioned the cap would possible scale back entry to credit score somewhat than assist customers. He argued that intense competitors already compresses margins and that value controls would drive broad lending cutbacks — particularly for higher-risk debtors.
— Financial institution of America CEO Brian Moynihan mentioned the trade is dedicated to affordability however argued a cap would tighten credit score. “You’re going to get restricted credit, meaning less people will get credit cards, and the balance available to them on those credit cards will also be restricted,” he mentioned.
—Citi CFO Mark Mason known as affordability an essential subject and mentioned Citi seems ahead to working with the administration on a constructive answer. “I also say that an interest rate cap is not something that we would or could support,” he mentioned, arguing it might prohibit entry to credit score.
Dunlop mentioned if the proposal is applied, banks would possible reply by tightening lending requirements, competing extra aggressively for higher-FICO debtors, and looking for to offset misplaced curiosity earnings by larger charges.
Greater rates of interest compensate lenders for nonpayment threat; with out that flexibility, issuers would chop underwriting and focus lending among the many least dangerous debtors. “For issuers that extend credit to lower-income borrowers, like Bread, the credit card economics simply don’t work out at lower interest rates, and they’d be forced to shrink their lending volumes dramatically,” Dunlop mentioned.
The talk highlights the strain between decreasing borrowing prices and preserving entry to unsecured credit score — a steadiness policymakers should weigh as affordability considerations collide with market realities.
Have a superb weekend.
Fast word: In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the following CFO Day by day might be in your inbox on Tuesday.
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Energy Strikes this week:
Dennis Okay. Cinelli was appointed CFO of Paramount, a Skydance Company (No. 147), efficient Jan. 15, and as such has resigned his board of administrators seat. Cinelli will succeed Andrew C. Warren, who has served as EVP and interim CFO since June 2025. Most just lately, Cinelli served as CFO of Scale AI. He beforehand held senior finance and operational roles at Uber, together with world head of strategic finance, and later operating the U.S. and Canada Mobility (Rides) enterprise. Earlier than Uber, Cinelli was with G.E. Ventures as CFO.
Each Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Energy Strikes column tracks Fortune 500 firm C-suite shifts—see the newest version.
This is extra CFO strikes this week:
Clare Kennedy was appointed CFO of Spencer Stuart, a worldwide advisory agency, efficient Jan. 12. Kennedy succeeds Christine Laurens as a part of a deliberate succession and in assist of Laurens’ retirement from full-time government work. Kennedy, who is predicated in London, joins Spencer Stuart from Maples Group, a global advisory agency, the place she served as world chief working officer. She joined Maples Group from Freshfields, a global legislation agency, the place she served as its world CFO. Kennedy beforehand spent 18 years at Linklaters, a global legislation agency, the place she held quite a lot of senior finance and business management roles. She started her profession at Arthur Andersen and EY as a chartered accountant, specializing in tax.
Gillian Munson was appointed CFO of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ: DUOL), a cellular studying platform, efficient Feb. 23. Matt Skaruppa will step down after practically six years with the corporate; he’ll stay CFO till Munson begins her new position, at which era he’ll assume an advisory position. Munson assumes the CFO position after serving on the Duolingo board of administrators since 2019 as chair of the audit, threat and compliance committee. She was most just lately the CFO of Vimeo and beforehand held CFO positions at Iora Well being, Inc. and XO Group Inc.
Betsabe Botaitis was appointed CFO of P2P.org, a non-custodial institutional staking supplier. Botaitis brings over 20 years of management throughout monetary companies, fintech, and Web3, with expertise constructing governance and operations in high-growth organizations. Most just lately, Botaitis served as CFO and treasurer at Hedera. Botaitis’ profession spans each conventional monetary establishments and crypto-native organizations. She started in retail banking earlier than holding senior finance roles at Citigroup and LendingClub, and later co-founding and serving as CFO of a blockchain firm.
Julie Feder was appointed CFO of Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology firm. Feder brings over 20 years of strategic finance expertise in life sciences and well being care. Feder joins Obsidian from Aura Biosciences, the place she served as CFO for six years. Earlier than Aura, she was CFO at Verastem. Earlier than that, Feder spent six years on the Clinton Well being Entry Initiative, Inc., as CFO.
Deborah Ricci was appointed EVP and CFO of Acentra Well being, a know-how and well being options firm. Ricci joins Acentra Well being from Guidehouse Inc., the place she most just lately served as associate and chief monetary and administrative officer. Earlier in her profession, Ricci held a number of senior finance management roles, together with CFO positions at Constellis, Centerra Group, and A-T Options, and commenced her profession as a licensed public accountant with KPMG.
Rohan Ranadive was appointed managing director and CFO of GTCR, a personal fairness agency. Ranadive succeeds Anna Could Trala, who’s retiring. Trala will stay affiliated with the agency, serving as a senior advisor going ahead. Ranadive brings greater than 20 years of expertise. He joins GTCR from Vista Fairness Companions, the place he was a managing director of finance operations. Earlier than that, he was the CFO of Aviditi Advisors and spent 12 years at TPG Capital in varied finance and accounting management roles.
Large Deal
Accenture’s newest Pulse of Change analysis finds that throughout the C-suite is predicated on a survey of three,650 C-suite leaders from the world’s largest organizations throughout 20 industries and 20 nations.
Corporations are pouring sources into AI, with 78% now seeing it as an even bigger driver of income progress than value cuts, in line with the report. On the similar time, 35% of leaders mentioned a strong knowledge technique and core digital capabilities would do essentially the most to speed up AI implementation and scale. Nonetheless, 54% of workers report low‑high quality or deceptive AI outputs that waste time and damage productiveness. In AI, worth follows high quality, so belief in outputs and knowledge accuracy stays essential for sustained progress, in line with Accenture.
Going deeper
Listed here are 4 Fortune weekend reads:
“Exclusive: Former OpenAI policy chief creates nonprofit institute, calls for independent safety audits of frontier AI models” by Jeremy Kahn
“America’s $38 trillion national debt is so big the nearly $1 trillion interest payment will be larger than Medicare soon” by Shawn Tully
“Worried about AI taking your job? New Anthropic research shows it’s not that simple” by Sharon Goldman
“America’s hottest job opening right now is in the NFL—no degree is required, you won’t be fixed to a desk and it pays up to $20 million” by Preston Fore
Overheard
“We have transitioned from a K-shaped recovery into a Barbell Economy, a system heavily weighted at the extremes of wealth and precarity, connected by a middle class that is rapidly snapping.”
—Katica Roy, a gender economist and the CEO and founding father of Denver-based Pipeline, a SaaS firm, writes in a Fortune opinion piece.
