The credit card industry is considering pulling back on more than $2 trillion in lines of credit during the next 18 months due to risk aversion and regulatory changes, Reuters reported.

Such a dramatic move could lead to sharp declines in consumer spending, which is already slowing down.

“Pulling credit when job losses are increasing by over 50 percent year-over-year in most key states is a dangerous and unprecedented combination in our view,” said prominent banking analyst Meredith Whitney.

For most Americans, credit cards are the second source of consumer liquidity after their income, Whitney said.

“We are now beginning to see evidence of broad-based declines in overall consumer liquidity,” Whitney said. “In other words, we expect available consumer liquidity in the form of credit-card lines to decline by 45 percent.”

With nearly five banks controlling the mortgage and credit card industries, Whitney said reductions in consumer liquidity seem unavoidable, and leaders such as Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have all discussed reducing card exposure or slowing growth.

“In a country that offers hundreds of cereal and soda pop choices, the banking industry has become one that offers very few choices,” Whitney said.