During a downturn, consumers are much more likely to use — and to repay — general-purpose credit cards than retail cards, and pretty much every major retail issuer tried to bail out of the business at some point over the last few years.

But now, instead of stalled sales, there are eager buyers, as with Capital One Financial Corp.'s agreement to purchase HSBC Holding PLC's $30 billion domestic portfolio, and lenders like Citigroup Inc., which has discussed reintegrating its retail card segment into the core of the company.

Despite the lower balances and higher loss rates, issuers are looking for loan growth where they can find it, and private-label vitals are on the mend, mostly tracking with the spectacular rebound in the performance of general-purpose cards (see charts).