Kevin Hassett pivots to possible ‘Trump cards’ amid credit card battle

White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Friday that large U.S. banks could voluntarily provide credit cards to underserved Americans as a means to address President Donald Trump’s affordability push.

A week ago, Trump called for banks to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, an idea that has been roundly rejected by industry executives and their lobbyists this week.

Now, Hassett, who is director of the National Economic Council, is floating a different plan, this one more narrowly focused on consumers who don’t have credit access but have the income to justify credit lines.

“They could potentially voluntarily provide for people who are in that sort of sweet spot of not having financial leverage very much because they don’t have access to credit, but they have enough income and stability in their lives so they’re worthy of credit,” Hassett told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.

“Our expectation is that it won’t necessarily require legislation, because there will be really great new ‘Trump cards’ presented for folks that are voluntarily provided by the banks,” he said.

The comments could indicate that the administration is downgrading its efforts for broad changes to the card industry that would be difficult to enact and that could hit consumer spending and the economy.

This week, bankers discussing fourth-quarter results said that rather than offering cards at a 10% interest rate, as Trump has said should happen by Jan. 20, the banks would simply close many customers’ accounts.

Hassett’s statement came in response to a question about whether bankers would be forced to comply with Trump’s rate cap, a move that would probably require new legislation.  

The administration has been talking with “CEOs of many of the big banks who think that the president’s onto something,” Hassett said.

A major credit card issuer and a bank lobbyist representing big lenders told CNBC that they haven’t yet had any discussions with the administration about the “Trump card” concept.