> Credit Cards Next in Line for Tightening

As consumers watch their wealth disappear in the markets, some are also at risk of losing one of their last spending lifelines: credit cards.

Consumer credit has grown steadily even as the housing market has gone bust and many credit sources have dried up. That is largely because consumers have piled on credit-card debt, increasingly to pay for staples such as groceries and gasoline. That spending has helped keep the economy out of a deeper recession.

Revolving credit, which includes credit cards, has grown faster than nonrevolving credit, or installment loans such as mortgages, since May...

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