Government's agreement with credit card companies

Commenting on the Government's agreement with credit card companies to give more help to customers, Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com said: "The agreement between the Treasury and credit card companies looks like a classic summit communiqué - which says a lot and means nothing. For example there is no commitment on the "order of payments" issue which sees most card companies apply payments to customers' cheapest debts first. And a one month window isn't enough time for struggling borrowers to reach agreements with all of their creditors, three months would have been better, along with a commitment not to apply for a Charging Order to take possession of borrowers' homes.

"What's more, a likely result of what the Treasury has achieved is that it will get harder for people who want to take out a new credit card to be accepted. The Government needs to understand that it cant control both the supply of credit and the price."