Obama to attend meeting with credit card firms

A customer swipes a credit card at a gas pump in Centennial, Colorado June 26, 2006.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will participate in a meeting on Thursday with executives of U.S. credit card companies, the White House said.

Aides to Obama had previously announced that the credit card firms would be meeting at the White House with top administration officials, including Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council.

But the White House made clear in a statement that Obama would participate in the meeting as well. He is expected to press the companies to change what administration officials see as deceptive practices that have saddled consumers with high debt and high interest rates.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan; Editing by Bill Trott)