JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s credit-card portfolio increased 6 percent in the second half of last year, passing rival Bank of America Corp. and making Chase the biggest U.S. issuer, according to the Nilson Report.

Chase Card Services managed MasterCard and Visa loans valued at $147.8 billion as of Dec. 31, 6 percent more than on June 30, according to Nilson. Card accounts rose 8.4 percent for the full year to 79.5 million, the fastest growth among the five largest issuers.

At Bank of America, which became No. 1 last year after buying Wilmington-based MBNA Corp., card loans rose 3.2 percent to $146.9 billion from midyear. Accounts fell 16 percent in 2006 to 74 million as the bank eliminated duplicate cards after the merger. New York- based Citigroup Inc. was third with $109.5 billion of card loans and 71.5 million accounts.

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