RIO RANCHO, New Mexico, (AFP) - President Barack Obama piled pressure on Congress for immediate action on steep rate hikes and predatory fees clamped by credit card firms on recession-hit Americans.

"Enough is enough, it's time for strong and reliable protections for our consumers," Obama said at a town-hall meeting in New Mexico.

"It's time for reform that is built on transparency, accountability, and mutual responsibility -- values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy."

Obama wants the Senate to pass credit card legislation and reconcile it with an already passed House of Representatives bill.

"I am calling on Congress to take final action to pass a credit card reform bill that protects American consumers and send it to my desk so I can sign it into law by Memorial Day (May 25)," Obama said.

"There is not time to delay. Time to get it done."

There had been some hopes that the bill would get a vote in the Senate on Thursday, but the chamber's Democratic leaders announced that there would be no final action on the bill until at least next Tuesday.

The "Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights" seeks to shield consumers from misleading small print in card contracts, empower cardholders to set their own credit limits, and require companies to fairly allocate payments.

The measure also targets practices such as marketing credit cards to minors, targets unfair rate hikes and charges and improves transparency for people shopping around for credit cards.

"You shouldn't need a magnifying glass or a law degree to read the fine print that sometimes doesn't even appear to be written in English or Spanish," Obama told a crowd of several thousand people at a Rio Rancho high school.

But Obama was also careful to couch his rebuke to card firms with warnings that customers must be careful not to spend beyond their means, after an era of easy credit which he blamed for help causing the crisis.

"It's debt, and you should not take on more than you can handle," he said.

"We expect consumers to make sound choices and live within their means and pay what they owe in a timely manner."

Obama was introduced by a local woman, Christine Lardner, who saw her interest rates skyrocket to 30 percent after a mistaken payment, approved by her credit card firm, took her over her limit.

"It is ludicrous and corrupt," Lardner said.

The US Federal Reserve says Americans have been piling on large amounts of extra credit card debt in last decade, with balances averaging 7,300 dollars.

As delinquency rates rise and many card holders have trouble paying up during the recession, card firms collect an annual 15 billion dollars in penalty fees.

As Obama made his pitch in New Mexico, senior members of his administration fanned out across the airwaves in an intense media blitz designed to pressure lawmakers in backing the bill.

Obama met top credit card executives at the White House late last month and vowed reforms to purge their industry of abusive rate hikes and fees and to restore consumer protections.

On Thursday, he made his audience laugh with a verbal faux pas, saying "we didn't agree on anything ... everything ... that was a slip of the tongue."

The American Bankers Association, which represents credit card issuers, has warned that the proposed legislation would lead to a freeze in credit -- at a time when the government needs a rush of spending to revive the economy.

ABA president and chief executive Edward Yingling issued a statement after the White House meeting arguing that new rules for the industry already established by regulators would address many issues raised by Obama.

"The card issuers are currently hard at work implementing these new rules, although the Federal Reserve itself has indicated these rules are likely to shrink credit availability and result in increased rates for some consumers.

Republicans seized on Obama's town hall meeting to mock his push for credit card reform, suggesting that what they see as bloated government spending was bankrupting the government's finances.

"Drowning your country in debt: Priceless" the ad script said, playing off a famous MasterCard advert in a new YouTube web ad mocking the "Obama Card".

"There are some things your money shouldn't buy but that's not gonna stop him from trying."