Citi's CFO says a credit card cap would have a 'deleterious' impact on the economy

• Citi's CFO Mark Mason said Trump's proposed credit card cap would have a 'deleterious' impact on the economy.
• Mason said Citi could not support a cap, though he emphasized the importance of affordability.
• The bank reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason warned that President Donald Trump's proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates could have dire consequences.

"An interest rate cap is not something that we would, or could, support, frankly," he said on a call with reporters ahead of the bank's fourth-quarter earnings call at 11 a.m. "At the end of the day, I think an interest rate cap would restrict access to credit to those who need it the most, and frankly would have a deleterious impact on the economy."

Mason said multiple times that he did not want to speculate on the impact of the potential cap, given the limited available information. He said that Citi would work with the Trump administration to address the "important issue" of affordability.

Reporters asked Mason about the cap multiple times, and he repeatedly said it would likely not help customers most in need, as is Trump's stated intention. He said later in the call that, again, it would have a "very negative impact on the economy."

During JPMorgan's Tuesday earnings call, the bank's CFO warned that any cap could have a detrimental impact on its lending business and negatively impact consumers.

Citi's profits fell 13% in the third quarter, to $2.47 billion, brought down partly by the sale of its operations in Russia, the bank said in an earnings report.

The bank saw an 84% surge in financial advisory fees in the fourth quarter. The investment banking unit has been reenergized under its new head, JPMorgan veteran Viswas Raghavan. Investment banking revenues increased by 38%, the bank said, and investment banking fees rose 35%.

Citi said that its "Transformation" — a years-long effort to modernize the bank and cut costs— is more than 80% complete, as stated in its earnings presentation. CEO Jane Fraser's attempted turnaround has included layoffs, new hires, and multibillion-dollar investments.