Both the House and the Senate are pursuing bills to give consumers greater protections as an expansion of new rules slated to take effect next year. Obama said his economic advisers will examine the various proposals and work with Congress and the industry, but he made clear he wants to sign a bill into law.

"I trust that those in the industry who want to act responsibly will engage with us in a constructive fashion, and that we're going to get this done in short order," Obama said, delivering a pointed message to leading executives of credit-card issuing companies after a closed-door White House meeting.

At issue is how to protect consumers, particularly in a deep recession, while not imposing the kind of rules that could make it harder for banks to offer credit or put credit out of reach for many borrowers.

Industry executives left the White House without talking to reporters.

Later, one of the participants, American Bankers Association president Edward Yingling, said the executives listened to Obama's concerns and "agreed to work with the administration to address them." In a statement on behalf of the executives, he said consumer protection must be balanced with "ensuring that credit remains available to consumers and small businesses at a reasonable cost."

The credit-card executives made the case in the meeting that sweeping rules already ordered by the Federal Reserve, due to take effect next year, address many of the concerns held by the president and Congress.

"He disagreed with that case and believed that more needed to happen," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said of Obama.

U.S. credit-card debt has increased by 25 percent in the past 10 years, reaching $963 billion by January, according to figures released by the White House. The average outstanding credit card debt for households that have a credit card was $10,679 at the end of 2008, according to CreditCard.com, an online marketplace designed to link consumers and card issuers.