Donald Dumb Keeps Promise to MAGA Morons: You'll Pay Exorbitant Fees to Credit Card Companies

Joe Biden restrained credit card companies' greed and abuse by imposing a maximum $8 on late fees. But MAGA morons prefer to pay upwards of $45 late fees to the credit card companies, so they elected the supreme moron Donald Dumb.

Now he is keeping his promise to enrich the billionaire owners and often fraudulent credit card companies that entice people into taking on more debt than they should at exorbitant cost. In this, the US continues a long tradition going back to loan sharks, snake oil peddlers and other charlatans, except now the crime dresses in fine corporate camouflage and has a veneer of respectability.

The Trump administration just handed U.S. credit card companies a regulatory gift and a shaft in the ass for the American consumers.  On Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked a Texas federal judge to formally toss out the $8 late fee cap rule, a move cheered by business groups that claimed the rule was overreach. That rule, a key piece of Biden's antijunk fee agenda has been frozen and is likely gone for good, banks are breathing easier and so are their shareholders.

Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, had already blocked the rule back in December, calling it a violation of the Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure Act. That law allows "reasonable" penalty fees tied to costs without a hard ceiling. The question is whether "reasonable" can be defined and justified. Monday's joint filing from the CFPB and the business lobby confirms what many expected: Trump isn't defending Biden's fee clampdown, he's dismantling it. On top of that, a federal appeals court just cleared the path for trimming CFPB staff, another step in weakening the agency without triggering a full legal showdown. Weakening of CFPB is a major blow to credit consumer protection against abusive and criminal financial companies, banks, and lenders.

I recently received a letter from an unknown credit card company by the name of Elan Financial Services operating out of a post office box in Fargo, North Dakota. After investigation, Elan later turned out to be an arm of a major bank by the name of US Bank. The letter - a 5-page-long form - asked me to provide them with detailed personal information including my social security number because Elan had "suspicions" that someone has opened a credit card in my name and using my personal information and they wanted to validate the application. It was clearly a sneaky attempt at opening a fradulent credit card account I never requested. I contacted CFPB with a complaint that was forwarded to Elan and US Bank, both of which complied and closed the fraudulent credit card account. This is a personal experience that proves that major banks in the US can subcontract their fraudulent operations to lesser know entities parading themselves as "financial services" and burden the consumer with unwanted debt. Now Trump wants not only to allow these banks to shaft the consumer with exorbitant junk fees, but by dismantling CFPB he is also allowing them to run fraudulent operations without any protection to the American consumer. I am not sure this is what the MAGA morons wanted by electing the orange baboon to the White House.

Why does this matter for markets? Because fee income is big business. Late fees account for billions in recurring revenue, and with the cap gone, those earnings are safe for now. That regulatory clarity is bullish for credit card stocks, especially heading into earnings season. Trump's move just reopened a lane for higher margins. If you're holding COF, AXP, or any lender with over a million cardholders, you're likely sitting on a quiet win.