New York ? It pays to be rich if you need a credit card.

A year after sweeping credit card regulations upended the industry, banks are showering perks and rewards on big spenders with sterling credit scores. And they’re socking customers with spottier histories with higher interest rates, lower credit limits and new annual fees. In some cases the riskiest customers are being dropped altogether.

The widening differences between how customers are treated is largely the result of new constraints on card issuers. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, or the CARD Act, was signed into law with great fanfare at a time when borrowers across the country were struggling to make payments. It swept away several practices that for years had grated on cardholders.

A key change is that issuers can no longer hike rates on existing balances or in the first year an account is open. The penalty charge for late payments is also capped at $25 per violation. And monthly statements must also clearly spell out the projected interest costs of making only minimum payments.

The regulations are already transforming the cards on the market. To make up for the drop in revenue, banks are imposing new annual fees and hiking interest rates — but mostly for those with the lowest credit scores. The best customers are more prized than ever.

Here’s how credit card offers are changing for consumers in three credit brackets:

The A-list (excellent credit): A clean payment history and a healthy appetite for spending put these customers at the top of the credit pyramid.

And the courtship of this group is intensifying. Prior to the recession, 44 percent of all credit card offers were mailed to this group. Now they receive 64 percent of all mailings, according to market researcher Synovate.

The B-list (good to fair credit): The next swath of consumers have solid credit histories, but may have more modest spending habits or make an occasional late payment. Many of these customers are seeing an uptick in offers for rewards cards, but the terms aren’t dramatically different.

A few rungs down the credit ladder, however, are those with spottier records. These customers make late payments often enough to raise red flags or regularly carry balances close to their credit limits. They may not be financial disasters, but they’re not entirely reliable either.

Most of these B-listers still won’t have any trouble getting approved for a new credit card, but they’ll have to agree to higher interest rates and annual fees.

The D-List (poor credit): For the riskiest consumers with an established streak of defaults and late payments, the recession isn’t the only reason the options have dried up.

The CARD Act means banks can no longer freely raise rates or impose fees to manage their default risk, says Dennis Moroney, a credit card analyst with TowerGroup.