He doesn't take plastic.

• Position: UP FRONT

I wanted to see the Old West, but it looked as if my initial vista might be through the bars of a hoosegow. I'd rented a car through a travel agency in Charlotte, and in the Albuquerque airport, the unhappy man behind the Hertz counter explained: No credit card, no keys. But I paid in advance, I protested. Yeah, he replied, but you're not going anywhere until you give me a credit card. Something about security. Voice rising, I offered my Visa debit card. Nope. Cash? No way.

As our faces got redder and voices grew louder, people in line began backing up, the way they do in the movies right before the barkeep pulls out the 12-gauge. I started yelling something about calling the Better Business Bureau, and he threatened to call security. Finally, I was forced to admit the truth: I don't have a credit card. Never have.

I once was embarrassed to admit that. People looked at me as if I lived in a cave. But these last few weeks, I just drag my knuckles and grin. After all, when it comes to worrying about the perils of plastic, 1 have an ally--no less than Ken Lewis, chief executive of Charlotte-based Bank of America.

On the heels of the mortgage meltdown, he says he's fretting about credit-card defaults. The nation's banks have about $50 billion in credit-card loans they'll never see hide nor hair of, a default rate of nearly 5.5% in the last quarter. Thirty percent of BofA's credit cards are held by subprime borrowers, who would be safer drawing a six-gun after swilling rotgut than pulling an...