Obama says to boost credit card consumer protection

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he would work to improve consumer protection for credit card users during his tenure in the White House.

"I generally support a credit card bill of rights," Obama told a town hall meeting in California in response to a participant's question.

"Having some consumer protection around credit cards is important."

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama proposed overhauling U.S. bankruptcy laws to ease the impact on people unable to pay their bills because of medical expenses or military service.

He took aim at the time at a 2005 overhaul of bankruptcy laws, which was strongly supported by credit card companies and other consumer lenders, that made it tougher for people facing personal bankruptcy to discharge debt.

(Published by Reuters - March 18, 2009)