Credit card providers have increased interest rates in an attempt to make up for revenue losses brought on by the OFT's cap on penalty charges and an increase in the number of bad debts, according to a leading financial information provider.
In April, the OFT said that penalty charges imposed when customers defaulted on repayments should be no higher than £12.
Since then, a number of credit card providers have increased their interest rates on purchases, balance transfers and cash withdrawals, said financial database firm Moneyfacts.
Capital One Bank has increased its Classic visa card APR for purchases from 29.9% to 34.94%, and Halifax has increased its APR on balance transfers from 10.5% to 15.9%.
Barclaycard has increased the charge on cash withdrawals using its Simplicity Platinum card from 15.8% to 27.9%, an increase of 12.1%.
Lisa Taylor, an analyst at Moneyfacts, said that even taking into account August's 0.25% interest rate increase, the large rises showed there were "other forces" at play.
"Rising bad debts and the lost fee revenue has left many providers with no choice but to look for alternative avenues for income," she said.
"And it seems raising interest rates is a popular option. For many consumers this rise may go unnoticed, but they should take time to look at the long-term consequences. They could be in for a nasty surprise," she added.
A spokesman at Barclaycard said that while the interest rate for withdrawing cash was 27.9%, the standard purchase rate on its Simplicity Platinum card was the lowest in the market at 6.8%.
He added that the lender also encourages people to repay more each month by lowering the interest rate if they opt to repay a greater proportion of their balance.
"Credit cards are for customers to make purchases using flexible, short-term borrowing. People wanting to access cash could consider using other borrowing options such as an overdraft or personal loan," he said.
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