Feds cap credit card late fees at $8

Credit card late fees will be capped at $8 a month, down from the current average of $32

(Image credit: Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

published 6 March 2024

What happened?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule Tuesday that will cap credit card late fees at $8 a month, from the current average of $32, saving households an estimated $10 billion a year.

The Biden administration is "messaging this rule as a 'win' for consumers going into an election year," but "it's anything but," said Lindsey Johnson at the Consumer Bankers Association. "On the surface, this is undoubtedly a good thing for credit cardholders," Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, said to NPR. But banks will likely "raise other types of fees to make up for the lost revenue."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.