Nationwide laments shortcomings of loan protection

Nationwide has called the government's decision not to amend the Consumer Credit Bill a missed opportunity.

It had hoped ministers would take on board some of the proposed amendments ? instead it chose to reject them all.

Nationwide was calling for the bill to outlaw the unfair order of payment on credit cards, which see providers paying off the lowest rate of interest items first, leaving higher-rate ones to accrue more interest.

Nationwide's executive director, Stuart Bernau, was disappointed with the government's decision.

"It is a great shame the opportunity has been missed to make a real difference to consumers.

"While we support the broad thrust of the bill we still do not believe it goes far enough.

"Some practices, like applying payments to the cheapest debt first, remain unfair and can only be to the detriment of the consumer."

Mr Bernau added: "Any debt counsellor worth their salt would tell you to pay off your most expensive debt first, so why should credit card providers be allowed to ignore this principle?"

Among other changes Nationwide had hoped for was the requirement for credit card providers issuing 'convenience' cheques to display rates clearly.

It also wanted to see more being done to tackle the barriers to data sharing in order to encourage responsible lending.