Citi’s Incoming CFO Warns: Rate Cap Could Shake U.S. Economy as Cards Drive 2026 Strategy

Luchetti warns interest-rate caps could shrink credit access and hit travel, retail, and hospitality as Citi prioritizes card wealth clients.

Gonzalo Luchetti, the incoming chief financial officer of Citigroup, stated on Wednesday that he believes the bank's credit card business would continue to develop but warned that a proposed rate of interest limit would have "massive ripple effects" across the US economy.

Credit cards will rank among Citi's top objectives in 2026, according to Luchetti, who was speaking at the Bank of America Securities Financial Services Conference. An interest-rate cap "may have material impacts" on credit lines and credit availability, he stated, especially for borrowers with lower incomes and those with lower FICO scores.

The new CFO at Citigroup claims that such a move would also have "massive ripple effects" in the retail, travel, and hospitality industries.  He did, however, add that the bank is working to increase its number of wealthy clients, one way of which is by creating rewards cards specifically for those with greater wealth. At the anticipated investor day on May 7, the bank will also update its strategy for the credit card division, which became independent after being split off from retail.

Citi reorganized its credit division to give general-purpose cards priority while preserving private-label products under a single plan. According to Luchetti, the bank anticipates mid-single-digit growth in the wealth, services, and deposits sections as well as in the cards and wealth segments for the loans sector, which it considers to be high-return markets.

Although expected interest rate reductions will probably have an adverse effect on revenue, the bank's advice has already taken that into account, he said. "We continue to see U.S. consumer resilience early in the year." Additionally, he stated that transformation costs peaked last year and are anticipated to decline as the transitory costs that increased as a result of the transformation program begin to subside. While automation increases efficiency, stranded costs associated with business changes and old franchise decisions remain.