Superstores the credit card kings

Tesco and Marks & Spencer have the happiest customers, with credit cardholders with both groups having an overall satisfaction rating of 89.4 per cent, according to comparison website uSwitch.com.

American Express came in third place with a customer satisfaction rating of 88.6 per cent.

But Halifax came bottom out of the 16 groups surveyed, with an overall score of just 67.5 per cent, while NatWest, Lloyds TSB and HSBC were all also in the bottom five.

Among the banks that did rank more highly were The Co-operative Bank and Nationwide, which came fourth and fifth respectively, followed by Alliance & Leicester in sixth place.

MBNA saw the biggest improvement, going from last place when the same research was carried out a year earlier to 11th.

Overall, 78 per cent of people said they were satisfied with their main credit card provider.