Credit Card Fairness Act

119 S3660 IS: Credit Card Fairness Act U.S. Senate 2026-01-15 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. II 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3660 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 15, 2026 Mr. Fetterman (for himself, Mr. Booker , and Ms. Baldwin ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Truth in Lending Act to reduce excessive credit card late fees, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Credit Card Fairness Act . 2. Purpose Congress believes the late fees rule of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under part 1026 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations (commonly known as Regulation Z ), was appropriately promulgated as an extension of the Bureau's authority, in existence at the time the rule was promulgated, and this Act is intended only to codify that appropriately promulgated rule and thereby limit late fees to an amount that is reasonable and proportional with respect to the costs of credit card issuers. 3. Reasonable credit card late fees Section 149 of the Truth in Lending Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1665d ) is amended— (1) in subsection (c), by striking shall consider and all that follows through the period, and inserting shall consider the cost incurred by the creditor from such omission or violation. ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (f) Cap on credit card late fees (1) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Large credit card issuer The term large credit card issuer means credit card issuer that had 1,000,000 or more open accounts during the preceding calendar year. (B) Open account The term open account has the meaning given that term in section 1026.58(b)(6) of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of this subsection (or successor regulation that is consistent with the purposes of the Credit Card Fairness Act ). (2) Fee limitation (A) In general Subject to subparagraph (B), a fee imposed by a large credit card issuer associated with a late payment on an account— (i) may not exceed $8; and (ii) shall not be, in the determination of the Bureau, in excess of the total costs described in subclause (I), thereby contributing to profits of the credit card issuer. (B) Updates to cap The Bureau may increase the cap on late fees for all large credit card issuers under subparagraph (A)(i) by a rate that is not more than the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor, for the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the date of proposed implementation of such increase to the cap. (3) Venue for challenge Any action brought to challenge any provision in this subsection, or any decision of the Bureau made pursuant to this subsection, shall be filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. (4) Rulemaking The Bureau shall promulgate any rules under this subsection in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, and prior to the notice and comment period, the Bureau shall publicly release the research used to inform and develop the proposed rule. .