Card companies face rules crackdown
Credit and store card operators have been threatened by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "clean up their acts" with the introduction of new consumer protection measures.
A series of measures will be unveiled this week to crack down on schemes such as increasing interest rates on old debts without explanation, issuing credit card cheques without request and relaxing credit limits without notification.
Mr Brown announced the crackdown on so-called "sharp practices" in a podcast released on the 80th anniversary of the Wall Street Crash, which heard the PM promise to reform the financial sector and bring growth back to the UK economy.
Mr Brown also promised further action on excessive bonuses in the city, saying: "We are also continuing to act on unfair and excessive bonuses being paid in the banking system that your money helped to save."
"We must bring financial markets into closer alignment with the values that everybody holds: hard work, responsibility, integrity and fairness.
"My pledge to you is to make reform of the financial sector a reality and to see Britain's economy return to growth by the turn of the year."