Credit card firms raise rates

CREDIT card companies have finally started putting up their rates in response to five base rate increases of 0.25 percentage points each since November last year. This month, cardholders are likely to see their interest rate increase.

All of the following companies are putting up their cards by 1 percentage point: Intelligent Finance, NatWest, Mint and Royal Bank of Scotland as well as Capital One's No Hassle card and Co-operative Bank's Advantage - according to data compiler Moneyfacts.

Mint and Intelligent Finance are still offering competitive rates at 11.9% and 12.9% respectively. Capital One's No Hassle card is the lowest at 6.9% but Money Mail receives complaints regularly from readers experiencing problems with the US company's service.

Co-op's Advantage card at 15.9% and RBS at 16.9% are middle of the road while NatWest's classic card is on the high side at 18.4% though its platinum card is cheaper at 16.9%.

Britain's biggest card issuer, Barclaycard, has already increased its rates which range from 15.2% to 26.3% depending on your credit rating.