Dec. 6--Eileen Rogan was enraged when Citibank recently raised the annual interest rate on her credit card to 19 percent after boosting it a year ago from 10 percent to 15 percent.

The giant card issuer, she said, was boosting rates on customers even as it benefit ed from billions of dollars in low-cost funds made available by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department.

Rogan, a substance-abuse counselor in Newport News, called Citibank to complain about the increase but decided to hold onto her card. Closing the account might have damaged her credit score, she said, and "I truly value having good credit."

What irked Raymond Miltier was a recent notice from Bank of America that he would have to pay a $29 annual fee to continue using his BofA card.

"I called them and closed the account," said Miltier, who worked as a naval architect technician at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth before retiring. "There are many other card companies out there looking for customers."

Citibank, Bank of America and other credit card issuers are wrestling with the recession and more-restrictive rules on what they will be able to charge card customers next year. Many banks already have responded by raising card rates and fees, shifting rates from fixed to variable and reducing customers' lines of credit.

That's forcing some cardholders to make the sorts of decisions that Rogan and Miltier faced. Do you accept a higher interest rate or other change and move on? Or do you close your account and risk denting your credit score?

Asked about the back-to-back increases in Rogan's card rate, Citibank said it doesn't discuss its customers' accounts. However, the bank said in a statement, rate increases are justified because of the surge in losses from card customers who failed to repay what they've borrowed.

Bank of America said its use of annual fees was part of a test applied to fewer than 1 percent of its 40 million card customers.

"We are trying to determine the value that individuals place on their cards" and their willingness to accept an annual fee, said Anne Pace, a BofA spokeswoman.

The burst of rate hikes, fee increases and other changes is due partly to passage in May of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, which imposes major restrictions on card issuers. Beginning in February, for example, card companies will no longer be able to jack up the interest rate on a customer's existing balance.

While most provisions in the new law take effect Feb. 22, card issuers were required in August to notify customers at least 45 days in advance of any changes in the terms and conditions of their accounts. A cardholder who objects to new terms can opt out of the change and pay down the balance at the existing interest rate.