Banks will be prevented from raising customers’ credit card limits without permission, and banned from sending out unsolicited “credit-card cheques”, under proposals in Thursday’s consumer affairs white paper.

In recent years, holders of cards issued by Barclaycard, Abbey, Alliance & Leicester – and the state-supported Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) – have routinely had their credit limits increased, as the banks expanded their credit businesses.