A new research has shown that credit card providers have increased interest rates.

Up to 33 per cent of cardholders found their APR (annual percentage rate) changed during the last 12 months.

Steve Willey, head of credit cards at moneysupermarket.com commented: "People, for example, about to come off introductory zero per cent deals and expecting to be paying 15.9 per cent have instead found themselves facing an APR of 27.9 per cent, which is outrageous.

"Increasing the interest on purchases will only make those rising food, fuel and mortgage bills harder to pay, and lengthen the time it takes people to clear their debts."

Facts and figures gathered also showed that more than a quarter of cardholders in the UK did not understand what the APR consisted of. A spokesman stated that cardholders were not taking enough consideration when it came to arranging their finance.