This Week's Senate Vote Could Reshape Banking, Credit, and the Free Market

01/14/26

Over the last several days, we have seen a sharp and deeply concerning shift in Washington. President Trump has publicly embraced a more expansive economic-populism position, blaming banks for the affordability challenges facing American families. While the rhetoric is new, the theme is not. For decades, politicians of both parties have targeted banks as a convenient punching bag for economic issues facing our country. What is different now is how quickly that narrative is being converted into concrete policy proposals that would directly harm consumers, small businesses, and the financial system that supports them.

Bottom Line:

Ohio bankers must act today. Immediate action is necessary to influence a critical vote that could change banking as we know it.

On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will vote on three proposals backed by President Trump that would drain bank deposits through interest-bearing stablecoins, slash interchange revenue through the Credit Card Competition Act, and impose a 10% cap on credit card interest rates-all of which would reduce credit and undermine the free-market banking system. If we do not push back now, we are being told these efforts will quickly expand to state-level interest rate caps on other products. Much more detail is below, but the time to contact Congress and make your voice heard is now.

TakeAction Now:

1. Close the Stablecoin Interest Yield Loophole
2. Oppose the Credit Card Competition Act
3. Push Back on Harmful Interest Rap Cap

Additional Analysis:

This week may be the most consequential week for banking, the free market, and limiting government interference in our lifetimes. On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a markup of the CLARITY Act, the cryptocurrency market-structure bill. Tucked into that process are three issues that, taken together, represent a direct assault on the traditional banking model and the availability of credit across Ohio and the nation.

First, the committee will decide whether to retain a loophole that allowing interest or yield on stablecoins. If that door is left open, deposits will be siphoned out of insured banks and into lightly regulated digital wallets offering yield without making loans or supporting local economies. That means fewer deposits available to fund mortgages, small-business loans, and agricultural credit in our communities. It is a quiet but dangerous threat to the core of what banks do.

Second, President Trump this morning endorsed the Credit Card Competition Act, a proposal that would force transactions onto government-mandated routing networks and strip billions of dollars in interchange revenue from banks. That revenue is what allows banks to offer fraud protection, rewards programs, free checking, and affordable credit. This bill would not lower prices for consumers-it would simply transfer costs from retailers to banks and, ultimately, to account holders and borrowers.

Third, the President has publicly backed a 10% cap on credit card interest rates. While that may sound appealing on social media, in the real world it would cut off millions of higher-risk, working-class families and small businesses from access to credit. History is clear: price controls on credit do not make borrowing cheaper; they make it disappear, pushing people toward unregulated, higher-cost alternatives. This proposal would harm the very people they are trying to protect.

We also have troubling intelligence that if these efforts move forward, the Administration's next step will be to push state legislatures to impose interest-rate caps on other financial products beyond credit cards. In other words, what starts in Washington this week could quickly spread to Columbus and every statehouse in the country.

This is the moment to draw a line. OBL will be fully engaged in Washington and here in Ohio, but we need our member banks' voices as well. We are asking you to immediately reach out to members of the Ohio Congressional Delegation. They need to hear, directly from the institutions that serve their constituents, that these proposals will reduce credit, hurt consumers, and undermine the free-market banking system that fuels economic growth.

Below you will find links to three separate campaigns where you can send a letter to your elected representatives on each of the three issues. We are asking you to follow each of those links to make your voice heard on these critical issues. Please forward this email to your staff so we can ensure all Ohio bankers are fully engaged in this fight.

Silence right now will be interpreted as acquiescence. The next few days will determine whether we defend a system that works for Ohio families and businesses-or allow government price controls and digital competitors to hollow it out. Please help us push back before these ideas become law.

Make Your Voice Heard:

1. Close the Stablecoin Interest Yield Loophole
2. Oppose the Credit Card Competition Act
3. Push Back on Harmful Interest Rap Cap

Thank you for your engagement with our industry. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Michael J. Adelman

President & CEO

Ohio Bankers League