CBA’s Johnson to Congress: More Competition Means More Safe Product Options

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Testifying before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee at a hearing entitled "The Affordability Agenda" today, Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) President and CEO Lindsey Johnson reiterated the importance of a competitive marketplace that provides consumers with a myriad of choice of where to get their financial services, the importance of a credible, durable Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and how government-imposed price caps would cause hardworking Americans to lose access to credit they rely on to make ends meet.

To watch Johnson's oral testimony, click HERE. Key excerpts from Johnson's responses to questions from the Committee are below.

On the importance of a competitive marketplace that provides consumers vast choices to select the financial services that best meet their needs:

"We have to get that balance between safety and soundness - allowing a bank to be a bank and wanting a bank to compete with all the other non-banks in the atmosphere. More competition means more safe product options."

On the importance of the CFPB being a credible, durable, stable regulator:

"We need a CFPB that's credible and durable and stable. We need a CFPB that does a true cost-benefit analysis - a rigorous cost- benefit analysis - to understand how the rules that it's writing are actually going to impact consumers. And oftentimes, whether it was credit card late fees or overdraft, [the Biden Administration CFPB] simply overlooked it […] We've got to do a better job of having an honest conversation that's apolitical at these agencies so that we can really drive cost savings to consumers."

On how many hardworking Americans would lose access to credit if a government-imposed, arbitrary price cap was imposed on the highly-regulated, highly-competitive credit card market:

"It's such an important question, and it's the right question, because ultimately it's a best way to make sure that someone only with an 800 credit score has access to credit […] It would restrict credit for around 75 to 80 percent of the current market […] It would be fairly immediate because, ultimately, risk-based pricing allows issuers - and there's 4,000+ issuers that compete for consumers' business every single day - to go out there and make sure that consumers have access to this necessary liquidity and source of credit in a very sustainable way. You can't do that for free. And part of this is making sure that we have plenty of options - and you mentioned the zero percent APR balance transfers - there were $60 billion in balance transfers in 2025 alone. We are focused on making sure the consumers understand those different options. But to simply take away a source of credit for consumers seems incredibly punitive."

To watch Johnson's full opening remarks, click HERE. To read Johnson's full written testimony, click HERE.

CBA Advocacy

• To read CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson's recent newsletter on affordability and the American consumer, click HERE.
• To read a recent blog post on the affordability story behind credit card balances, click HERE.
• To read a recent blog post analyzing the real story behind rising household costs, click HERE.
• To read CBA's "Vision for America - A Bank Policy Agenda for All," which outlines the retail banking industry's priorities, beliefs, and positions on a number of consumer-focused financial services policy issues, click HERE.
• To read CBA's white paper calling for CFPB reforms to transform the CFPB into the credible, durable regulator that consumers deserve, click HERE.