New York, January 12, 2026, 11:33 EST — Regular session
American Express (AXP) shares slid 4.6% to $358.24 in late-morning New York trading on Monday, after touching $355.50 earlier in the session. The drop followed President Donald Trump’s call on Friday for a one-year 10% cap on credit-card interest rates starting Jan. 20, a proposal analysts at TD Cowen and Barclays said would require Congress and faces long odds.
Credit cards are revolving credit — balances can roll month to month — and interest charges are a big part of the economics for issuers. A 10% ceiling could trim borrowing costs for some households, but it could also squeeze profits and curb credit availability; U.S. credit card balances stood at $1.23 trillion at the end of the third quarter, the Federal Reserve reported.
Selling pressure was not limited to American Express. Capital One, Synchrony Financial and Bread Financial fell sharply, while payment processors Visa and Mastercard also slid as investors weighed how wide any cap could reach. Seaport Research analyst Bill Ryan wrote it was “not surprising” to see the idea return with affordability a top voter concern, and J.P. Morgan analyst Vivek Juneja warned it could push borrowing toward “pawn shops” and other non-bank lenders. Reuters
The policy headline hit a market already on edge. U.S. stocks were lower after the Trump administration renewed its attacks on the Federal Reserve and threatened to indict Fed Chair Jerome Powell, stoking worries about the central bank’s independence. “Another dent to the armor” of Fed independence would not be welcomed by markets, said Jordan Rizzuto, chief investment officer at GammaRoad Capital Partners. Reuters
American Express describes itself as a “globally integrated payments company,” and it sits in an awkward spot for this debate. Unlike the pure payment networks, it also issues cards, which leaves it more exposed when Washington starts talking about caps and credit terms. American Express
The details are still the missing piece. Investors will want to know whether any cap would cover existing balances, how it would be enforced, and what levers lenders could pull instead — fees, rewards, credit limits — to protect margins.
For AXP holders, the near-term risk is simple: headline-driven volatility that can detach from fundamentals for a while. If the cap stalls, some of Monday’s move could unwind. If it gains traction, the market will start pricing the company like a policy wager, not a spending story.
A hard cap, if it ever arrived, could also change behavior in messy ways. Lower rates can mean less cushion to absorb defaults, which can translate into tighter credit for weaker borrowers and slower growth in card balances — a gradual squeeze rather than a one-day shock.
That leaves investors watching two tracks at once: any follow-up from Washington that turns the idea into something written, and early read-throughs from lenders on consumer credit health as earnings season gets going.
American Express is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 30 at 8:30 a.m. ET, and that call is the next fixed point for traders looking past the noise.
