In response to calls to address the affordability crisis, President Donald Trump proposed a temporary cap on credit card interest rates at 10%. But credit card rates remain high, averaging over 23% in April.  

Now, the Trump Administration may add fuel to the fire of high prices by allowing online lenders that charge interest rates of 100%, and even higher, to become national banks and escape state limits on interest rates. 

That would allow lenders like NetCredit, which is owned by Enova, and Opportunity Financial, also known as OppFi, to spread exploitative loans in every state, including the 45 states with laws prohibiting those predatory rates. Others could potentially follow in their path.

NetCredit charges an up to 100% annual percentage rate (APR), but keeps its high-rate loans out of states like Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia because they limit interest rates and have a history of enforcing their laws.

In 2021, OppFi was forced to stop evading usury laws in the District of Columbia and agree to a penalty of more than $2 million.

If Trump-appointed regulators approve Enova’s and OppFi’s applications to purchase small national banks, both could charge 100% APRs, or higher, without fear of being sued for evading state usury laws. Federal law allows national banks to charge any rate allowed in their home state.

Enova and OppFi’s predatory interest rates yield sizable returns for investors, but many borrowers default. Loan loss rates that consistently exceed 50% make clear a majority of these loans were never going to be affordable. 

Approving these applications for national bank charters would greenlight these loans nationwide and expose borrowers in every state to online loan sharks, leaving consumers in despair. 

President Trump should direct his financial regulators to reject the bank applications from Enova and OppFi to avoid rewarding companies with records of dragging borrowers into financial ruin.

If the president wants to provide people relief from high-interest debt, instead of greenlighting 100% APR loans, he should lead a crackdown against high-cost credit schemes and push Congress to pass a national interest rate cap.

The Predatory Lending Elimination Act would extend to everyone the successful 36% interest cap that protects military servicemembers, stopping 100% APR loans, even if they’re made by a bank. 

President Trump should also urge Congress to enact the Empowering States’ Rights to Protect Consumers Act, which would close the loophole that allows banks — and their credit card divisions — to charge high rates that ignore state interest rate limits, which are often below 36%.

Middle- and working-class families are struggling with the high cost of living, and the Trump Administration can help. It should eradicate predatory lenders like Enova and OppFi and back up his affordability rhetoric with real policy changes.