It is the nature of the credit card market that there will always be a wide range of products for people to choose from, reveals one expert.

Responding to a recent Which? report, which suggested that card providers were facing their customers with unnecessary costs, Paul Rodford, head of policy at the UK Cards Association, says several features have been overlooked.

He continues: "Principally they erroneously suggest a direct link between the base rate and APR, which has never been the case.

"It’s a fact that the average APR has consistently dropped over the last 14 years, often at times when the base rate has increased."

He adds that the current average APR is still below the 1995 peak and takes into account charges, fees and interest rates.

Furthermore, it reflects what Mr Rodford describes as the "open-ended line of unsecured credit and the possibility of bad debt".

The Which? Money report suggests that credit card rates have increased by an average of 0.5 per cent, with Mint, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland making rises of four per cent.