Leading credit card companies have agreed to give more help to customers who are heavily in debt, after talks with government ministers on Wednesday.

Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, met with credit card companies and anti-poverty charities to push for fairer payment terms for credit card customers struggling to pay back their debt. In particular, he urged credit card companies to make clear to customers when rates change, as some credit card companies have been increasing their rates with little warning to customers, even as base rates have fallen sharply.

“The government is deeply concerned that borrowers aren’t getting a fair deal,” said Consumer Affairs Minister Gareth Thomas, who also attended the meeting. “That’s why we’ve taken swift action to bring the industry in to look at how costs are being applied to people’s existing debts.”

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Against the backdrop of the Lloyds TSB/HBOS takeover and the Lehman Brothers controversy, it turns out that even customers with exemplary credit histories are having their spending habits reigned in by credit firms as a precautionary measure.

This has prompted angry reactions from customers who have never defaulted and always managed to successfully juggle their finances, and have found their cards to be rejected when attempting to purchase goods in high street chain stores and even when making purchases as small as train tickets.

Customers who have enjoyed four figure spending limits on their cards in the past have seen their limits shrink into the hundreds. A recent post over on This is Money gives the example of a Mr. Jones from Coventry, who had the ceiling limit on his Sainsbury’s credit card scythed down from nearly £5,000 (£4,950) to a mere £700.

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Being able to successfully juggle credit cards with high rate of APR is one of the least known but more effective ways of improving your credit rating – so long as you don’t run into trouble with repayments and don’t default, having a card with a super high APR can be advantageous for you when you want to make that big loan or mortgage application in the future, as it demonstrates your ability to handle your finances well.

The Capital One Classic Card is a card primarily used to for high street and online purchases – the rate of 34.9% APR includes balance transfers, not exactly ideal for paying off existing balances. The Capital One Classic Card comes with a ceiling limit of £2,500, and no annual fee and is therefore ideal for students and younger earners aged 18 or above who want to start building a good credit reputation for the future.

Having said that, Capital One’s Classic Card is ideal for anybody who wants to improve or rebuild their credit rating – making small purchases, staying within your credit limit and paying everything back on time using the Classic Card will guarantee marked improvements in your reputation after 6 months.

As well as being able to pay for purchases online, you can also easily manage your finances online by downloading and printing out your own statements, should you wish to not receive statements in the post.