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A number of UK credit card companies have reportedly found a new way to squeeze more money from their existing customers.

They are profiling customers they think are at risk of struggling with repayments in future, even though they may have always paid on time and never struggled in the past.

According to reports, credit card companies are looking at customers with high debt levels or with a number of credit cards, and are placing them on a higher risk group. People who always make minimum payments only, even if this is on time each month, are also classified as higher risk customers.

One industry professional said: "Lenders are already digging deeper to pick up on early signs of over-indebtedness. Credit cards provide early warning signs such as borrowing from one card to pay another or constantly making only minimum payments. This kind of information will have a bigger impact than it would have done in the past."