Press and data

None of the 137 US credit cards tracked by BestCreditCards, an independent card comparison site, has a standard purchase APR at or below 10%, even for applicants with the strongest credit. The study compares the sampled cards’ published standard purchase APR ranges with a hypothetical 10% cap. The 10 Percent Credit Card Interest Rate Cap Act (S. 381) and the President’s January 2026 proposal both specify 10% but differ in duration. S. 381 remains at the introduced stage and has not become law. Its latest recorded action is referral to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on February 4, 2025. Legislative status checked October 20, 2026 against https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/s/BILLSTATUS-119s381.xml.

Key findings

• None of 137 sampled cards has a standard purchase APR at or below 10%. They come from 28 issuers, including the largest. The lowest rate any of them offers is 10.24% (Navy Federal Platinum Credit Card).
• The typical gap is wide. The median starting APR is 19.49% and the median highest APR is 28.49%. To meet a 10% cap, the typical card would have to cut its lowest rate by 9.49 percentage points and its highest by 18.49.
• $535 modeled annual difference. The end-2025 balance was $4,350 per adult with a credit report. Held constant for a year at the historical 22.30% APR (November 2025), simple interest is $970; at 10%, $435. Historical illustration, not observed or forecast savings. The same balance is held for a full year, with no repayments or new spending. Balances include people who pay in full; actual savings depend on interest-bearing balances, APRs and repayments. It does not model changes to fees, rewards or access to credit under a cap.
• The modeled annual difference varies by state. It is largest in the District of Columbia ($677), Alaska ($646), Hawaii ($642), New Jersey ($635) and Maryland ($626), and smallest in Mississippi ($373), Kentucky ($386) and West Virginia ($391).
• Intro rates are temporary. 39 cards offer 10% or less on purchases for a while: 36 at 0%, and the Bilt Blue Card, Bilt Obsidian Card and Bilt Palladium Card at 10% for 12 months. Every one then reverts to a standard APR of at least 15.24%, the rate the cap would limit and the rate the study measures.
• Credit unions already have a ceiling. Federal credit unions may charge no more than 18%, a ceiling the NCUA has extended to September 10, 2027. All 9 federal credit union cards in the study top out at 18% or less; only one other card does.

What each side says

The study quotes both sides’ published estimates word for word and takes no side. The Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator estimates that a 10% cap “would save Americans $100 billion, but would lead to a $27 billion reduction in rewards for customers with FICO credit scores of 760 or lower.” The American Bankers Association says that “at least 137 million cardholders – and up to 159 million – would no longer be able to use their cards.”

Matt Woodley, editor of BestCreditCards, said: “When the Fed raises rates, your card rate goes up on the elevator. When the Fed cuts, your card rate takes the stairs.”

Federal Reserve data bear that out. The Fed funds rate fell 1.70 percentage points between August 2024, the last survey before the Fed’s first cut, and August 2026; over the same period the average APR on card accounts charged interest fell 1.01. In the cuts of 2007–09, the Fed funds rate fell 5.14 points and the average card APR fell 0.27. (BestCreditCards’ credit card interest margin study, https://bestcredit.cards/credit-card-interest-margin.)

Method

Card rates are each card’s purchase APR range as the issuer publishes it in its federally required rates table (the Schumer box), checked automatically against a saved copy of the issuer’s terms between October 4, 2026 and October 22, 2026 and re-checked weekly. State figures combine the New York Fed’s card debt per person (end of 2025) with the Federal Reserve’s average APR on accounts charged interest: a year’s simple interest at that rate and at 10%. They illustrate scale, not a forecast, and assume the same balances under a cap, which is what the two sides dispute.

Free to use

Every card and every state as CSV files, an embeddable infographic, a chart and a suggested citation are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with credit and a link: https://bestcredit.cards/credit-card-interest-rate-cap

About BestCreditCards

BestCreditCards (bestcredit.cards) is an independent credit card comparison site that publishes sourced, dated records of card fees and rates from issuers’ own disclosures. How it is paid is published at https://bestcredit.cards/how-we-get-paid. Matt Woodley is its editor. Media contact: team@bestcredit.cards.