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NEW YORK — Your credit card debt may soon get a lot more expensive.

Two of the biggest issuers in the nation — Bank of America and Chase — say they’re switching some fixed-rate cards to variable rates, which could push up the amount of interest taken out of your monthly payment. The changes will take effect in August for both banks.

Chase and Bank of America wouldn’t give specifics on how many accounts the change will affect but said they will continue to offer some fixed-rate cards. Chase has 159 million credit cards in the U.S. and Canada, while Bank of America has 70 million worldwide.

Fixed-rate cards are generally reserved for the best customers. Fixed-rate cards currently make up 34 percent of credit cards issued by the nation’s largest lenders, according to Bankrate.com.

Despite the name, the terms on fixed-rate cards always could be changed in the past. That allowed banks to make the gamble of offering customers favorable fixed rates — then raising rates if the customers later proved too risky, said Leigh Allen, CEO of Global Consumer Finance Advisory, a consulting firm based in New York business