NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) and other major U.S. banks said the troubled economy drove big increases in loan losses, reducing second-quarter earnings.

Wednesday’s results provided fresh evidence the nation’s banks still face a rough road as loan losses once concentrated in home mortgages migrate to commercial loans, commercial real estate loans and credit cards.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration, scrambling to get its main housing initiative on track, extracted a pledge from 25 mortgage company executives to improve their efforts to assist borrowers in danger of foreclosure.

The sessions came amid concerns that the Obama administration will fall far short of its original goal of helping up to 3 million to 4 million troubled borrowers with modified loans.

As of this week, only about 200,000 borrowers were enrolled in three-month trial loan modifications, out of about 370,000 who were offered modifications by mortgage companies.

Citigroup Inc. said it has raised its rates on some credit cards this year as it reviewed its risk exposure and its needs to counter rising business costs.

Citi has boosted rates on up to 15 million U.S. credit-card accounts cards it co-brands with retailers such as Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD 78.68, +2.41, +3.16%) according to a report earlier Wednesday in the Financial Times newspaper.

Many card issuers are tinkering with rates now, to get in under the wire, leaving consumers struggling with how to respond properly.