Obama puts down credit card ÔÇ£abuseÔÇØ

President Barack Obama has told the┬ábosses of 13 US credit card issuers to ditch unfair interest rate hikes and to be more transparent and accountable. ┬á Obama wanted to keep the credit card market but to "eliminate some of the abuses" as politicians have expressed anger that many of the banks issuing credit cards with high fees are the same banks that have received government bailout money. ┬á Banks say tighter rules would reduce income at a difficult time for them. ┬á "We're confident we can arrive at something that is common-sensical," President Obama said after the White House meeting, which included executives from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Citigroup. ┬á The meeting came a day after a House of Representatives bill to limit credit card fees and curb levels of penalties was given clearance by a key panel. ┬á The legislation ÔÇô recognized as the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights - would stop credit card issuers from imposing capricious interest rate increases and penalties. ┬á "We want to preserve the credit card market but we also want to do so in a way that eliminates some of the abuses and some of the problems that a lot of people are familiar with,ÔÇØ said Obama.┬á "The days of any time, any reason rate hikes have to stop."