Big banks report soaring profits amid tensions with Trump over credit card interest rates

“While any number of risks continue, we are bullish on the U.S. economy in 2026,” said Brian Moynihan, CEO and chairman of Bank of America, in a statement.

Moynihan added that businesses and consumers are “proving resilient.” Mark Mason, Citigroup's chief financial officer, used the same word to describe how consumers and businesses were doing.

"The U.S. economy is doing just fine. There’s downside risks out there, geopolitical risks in particular. But when I step back and look at it holistically, we have an economy that has managed uncertainty and risks in a resilient type fashion," Mason told reporters on Wednesday.

Up until last weekend, the big banks had found an ally in the White House in President Donald Trump. Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law in July, which pushed another significant round of tax cuts. Trump’s bank regulators have also been pushing a deregulatory agenda that both banks and large corporations have embraced. Many companies have embraced dealmaking last year, which led to a steady stream of investment banking revenues and fees to the big banks.

But now the banks and Trump are butting heads. Trump said Friday that he wants to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10%, and has been supportive of his Justice Department's investigation into Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, which bankers see as a threat to the independence of the nation's central bank. Trump does not appear to be backing down on his attacks as well, doubling down in comments to reporters Tuesday night.

For these big banks, many of which have large and profitable credit card businesses, these banks argue that a credit card interest rate cap simply cannot happen.

“Affordability is a big issue and we look forward to collaborating with the administration on ways we can address this,” Mason with Citi said. “But an interest rate is not something we could or would support. It would restrict credit to those who need it the most and have a delirious impact on the economy.”

Bank executives told reporters they weren’t seeing much evidence of a “K-Shaped” economy, where the rich get richer and the bottom half do less well. Further, the consumer continues to spend and other metrics about consumer financial health like delinquencies and charge-offs remain stable.

Bank of America posted a profit of $7.6 billion, or 98 cents per share, up from $6.8 billion, or 83 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue at the bank was $28.4 billion.

Wells Fargo earned a profit of $5.36 billion, or $1.62 per share, compared to a profit of $5.08 billion, or $1.43 a share, in the same period a year earlier on revenues of $21.3 billion.

At Bank of America, the bank reported a 6% increase in credit and debit card spending and credit card balances rose a manageable 3% year-over-year to $103 billion. Retail deposits also grew to $945.4 billion.

Wells Fargo’s credit metrics also told a similar story. The bank saw consumer loan growth and more activity on its credit cards, but delinquencies and charge-offs were relatively stable.