The provider says that the hike in payments will get more cardholders out of debt sooner.
Providers are increasing their minimum credit card repayments, the Guardian reports.
Customers at Alliance & Leicester, Virgin Money and other firms run by MBNA are set to see their payments rise from the lesser of £5 plus any interest or three percent, to the lesser of £5 plus interest or £25. This means that customers with low amounts of debt will face a five-fold increase in minimum repayments.
MBNA, a US-based credit card provider, is set to roll these changes out later in the year. It defends the change by pointing out that it will bring many people - who might otherwise have paid the £5 minimum each month and stayed in debt for years - out of arrears quicker.
A spokesman for MBNA said: "From a customer's point of view, the change is a good thing as the more debt they pay off, the better, but clearly, if some people can't afford to pay [the new minimum repayment] then they can come to us and we'll try to resolve it."
According to figures from payments association APACS, around 11 percent of British borrowers (3.4 million people) only pay the minimum repayment on their cards. The same body estimates that 20.9 million pay off their card bills in full each month.
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