President Obama’s credit card got rejected last month. Here’s what happened next.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

By Katie Zezima

Presidents, they're just like us -- their credit cards get declined.

President Obama's credit card was rejected last month at a restaurant in New York.

"I went to a restaurant up in New York when I was -- during the U.N. General Assembly, and my credit card was rejected," Obama said Friday while signing an executive order to protect consumers from identity theft. "It turned out I guess I don’t use it enough. They were -- they thought there was some fraud going on. Fortunately, Michelle had hers."

And, yes, Obama had to defend himself.

"I was trying to explain to the waitress, you know, I really think that I’ve been paying my bills," Obama said. "Even I’m affected by this."

Obama has been concerned about the state of his credit before. In Austin in July, he ordered more than $300 worth of barbecue and realized he didn't have enough cash. So he pulled out his credit card but asked trip director Marvin Nicholson if it was good before handing it over to the cashier. Nicholson assured Obama that the card - photos show it as a black JP Morgan card - would work, and apparently it did.

Despite this, when Obama went to a boutique grocery store in Minneapolis in June he paid for $82.55 in groceries with cash. At the time, he said he only carried cash and his driver's license in his wallet.

Obama isn't the only high-profile government figure to run into financial rejection. Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in Chicago this month that the market is so tight he couldn't refinance his home.

"I recently tried to refinance my mortgage an I was unsuccessful in doing so," he said, according to Bloomberg. "I’m not making that up.”