ANALYSIS-Credit card bill not all good for consumers

* Card issuers to boost rates, fees; restrict credit

* Being a good credit risk not a defense

By Jonathan Stempel

CHICAGO, May 22 (Reuters) - The credit card bill signed into law Friday by President Barack Obama will hurt an industry condemned for nickel-and-diming its cardholders, but falls well short of being a panacea to recession-battered consumers.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and other card lenders will face new restrictions on rates and fees and be required to improve both the amount and speed of their disclosures.

That would pressure an industry already experiencing heavy losses from the roughly 90 million households that carry cards. These losses are expected to worsen as the year wears on.

"Issuers have taken a body blow," said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, a credit card comparison website. "They have to make up some of this lost revenue. They are for-profit companies and their shareholders expect it."

Yet the law does not set absolute limits on rates and fees, which issuers have real incentives to raise.