President Trump looked at America's punishing credit-card rates and picked a number: 10%.

It sounded radical. For servicemembers, it wasn't.

Federal law can cut pre-service credit-card debt to 6%. Interest above the cap is erased—not delayed, capitalized, or waiting at the end of a deployment.

That makes the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act one of the most powerful credit protections in America. While Washington debates whether banks can tolerate a 10% ceiling, military borrowers already have the right to demand less.

The law is strong. Finding the right person at a bank is the mess.

Requests move through different forms, support channels, and back-office departments depending on the institution. The protection is federal. The process is anything but uniform.

Orders First is pulling that process into daylight—bank by bank, request by request.

The rate gap is enormous

Credit-card accounts that were charged interest carried an average annual rate of 22.15% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Federal Reserve.

Trump's proposed 10% ceiling would have cut the prevailing rate by more than half. The SCRA can push it lower still.

This is not a teaser rate. It is not a balance-transfer promotion. It is a federal protection designed to keep debt taken on before military service from becoming more expensive while the borrower is serving.

Congress talks. The SCRA works.

Trump called for a one-year 10% cap beginning Jan. 20, 2026. The date passed. No nationwide cap took effect.

The White House later described the plan as a request to Congress. Rate-cap bills were introduced in the House and Senate, but neither became law. Card issuers kept charging market rates.

Trump was not alone. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley introduced the Senate bill. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Anna Paulina Luna introduced the House version. The political brands could hardly be more different. The message was identical: credit-card rates are too high.

White House statement Senate bill House bill

The SCRA is different. Its 6% ceiling is already written into federal law. When the protection applies, a creditor must reduce the rate, forgive interest above the cap, and adjust the payment accordingly. If the borrower already paid excess interest during the covered period, the creditor must refund it.

That is the difference between a proposal and leverage.

The SCRA is not a military discount

A discount is a favor. The SCRA is federal law.

It is stronger than a promotional APR, stronger than a hardship plan, and four full percentage points below the ceiling now commanding national attention.

For credit cards, the federal path comes down to four things:

  1. The debt came first. The card obligation must have been incurred before the borrower entered qualifying military service.
  2. The borrower sends notice. A written request can be sent electronically and is generally paired with military orders or another accepted indicator of service.
  3. The bank looks backward. The adjustment reaches back to the first day of eligibility; it does not start only when the bank opens the request.
  4. The excess interest disappears. The amount above 6% is forgiven, not parked for collection later.

For credit-card debt, the cap generally runs during military service. The written request can be made during service or within 180 days after it ends.

That is the machinery. The headline is simpler: an eligible borrower paying 20% or more may have a federal route to 6%.

See the federal credit-card and borrowing protections

Some banks go even lower

Six percent is the federal ceiling. It is not always the best available rate.

USAA and Capital One both publish 4% programs for eligible accounts—two percentage points below the federal cap. Their product rules and request processes differ, which is why the name on the current statement matters.

The Orders First institution guides separate the federal right from each institution's additional program. They also distinguish a general customer-service number from a channel that can actually start a request or receive documents.

What to do now

Start with the dates. Compare the date the card account was opened with the date qualifying military service began.

Then check the institution's current instructions. A bank may use an online request, authenticated upload, fax, mail, or another dedicated route. Keep a copy of the request, the service documentation, and the date everything was sent.

Estimate the potential difference and prepare a request

The number that matters

Trump made 10% a national talking point. For servicemembers with qualifying pre-service debt, the number already written into law is 6%—and some institutions go to 4%.

The relief is not waiting on Congress. Use it.