Credit card providers have agreed to set new guidelines on when and how they raise interest rates for existing customers, following talks with the government this week.

Government ministers had voiced fears that some card issuers were treating customers unfairly. Some companies have been pushing up rates for customers with little notice due to concerns about the risk of defaults. The card companies will now lay out a "statement of fair principles for risk-based repricing" - the practice of increasing rates for borrowers they believe could default.