Consumers have been warned they face a huge increase in charges for using their credit cards abroad this Easter.

British holidaymakers will be charged an average 3 per cent for using their cards abroad netting the industry £754 million - a 6 per cent rise compared with last year, according to figures from Uswitch, the price comparison site.

More providers are also now charging a flat fee for debit card purchases. Government-backed Halifax has one of the highest charges at £1.50 while Abbey and Royal Bank of Scotland charge £1.25.

Louise Bond, personal finance manager at Uswitch said: “With an average charge per debit card purchase of £1.13, netting the industry £148 million per year, more and more providers look set to jump on this lucrative bandwagon.”

“The most cost effective way to use debit cards abroad for cash withdrawals is to take out larger sums of money in order to incur fewer fees.”

According to Uswitch, Britons will spend £22.4 billion on overseas transactions.

Last month, Nationwide building society said it would impose a fee for the first time for foreign card usage outside Europe.Nationwide is charging 1 per cent from July, leaving Post Office as the only card not to charge for overseas purchases and withdrawals.

Amongst its competitors HSBC, MBNA, American Express and Alliance & Leicester are the worst offenders on the high street, charging 2.99 per cent on foreign usage in the Eurozone.

Lloyds and Halifax charge 2.95 per cent while Barclaycard charges 2.75 per cent.

Thomas Cook is also exiting the fee-free overseas market on April 18 when it will introduce a 2.5 per cent foreign exchange fee for purchases and cash withdrawals abroad.