Rising defaults and people behind on their payments have credit card companies retreating from the marketing and lending orgy of the past few years. Here’s what the different banks are doing to shore up their positions:

American Exrpress: Getting more prudish when you ask to up your credit limit
Bank of America: Tightening standards, looking closer at debt on books
Capital One: Tightening standards, hiring more debt collectors,
Citigroup: Tightening standards, raising minimum scores, letting people do a forbearance (a temporary reprieve from having to make payments)
J.P. Morgan Chase: Will stop showering credit card arbitrage players with offers. Reaching out to customers behind on payments to work out a plan.
WaMu: Slowing down direct marketing efforts

If you’re trying to get a credit card this year, its’ going to be harder. Your credit score and credit history are going to matter more. Banks are also going to pull your credit reports from all three bureaus instead of just one, making it even more important to check out all your reports for free at annualcreditreport.com and make sure everything is correct and dispute the items that are not.

Credit Cards Are Playing Harder to Get [WSJ]
(Photo: mod*betty)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.