Credit card crackdown only cracks minor areas

Commenting on the Government's move on credit card companies, Peter Harrison, credit card expert at moneysupermarket.com, said: "The Government, either through accident or design, has really missed the point here.

"If the Government actually wanted to make a substantial difference to credit card lending practises, it would insist that payments made by people were assigned to the highest interest debt first and that people weren't allowed to exceed their credit limit.

"At present, most providers assign payments to the lowest interest debt initially. As for credit limits, people are generally allowed to exceed their limit once, which means they are charged a £12 fee and lose any zero per cent offers they might be on. Each of these slips by a person can cost them hundreds of pounds in interest.

"Welcome though it is, this Government crackdown will only make a minor difference - rather than the major steps it could take by insisting on two simple changes."