Credit card holders could be forced to double the current monthly repayment on their outstanding debt under proposals being put forward by the government.

On Tuesday, consumer affairs minister Kevin Brennan will unveil the results of a review into credit and store card practices that it has been conducting over the summer. The review will include a proposal forcing an increase to the level of minimum monthly repayments card issuers ask for each month.

Over the past few years these minimum repayments have fallen from a typical 5% of the outstanding balance to an average 2-3% of the outstanding debt. This can quadruple the original credit card debt for those people who never pay off more than the minimum over a long period.

The government believes the card industry is not doing enough to address this issue and will suggest legislation that will push up the minimum required amount. It is going to put three proposals forward for consultation, one of which will force minimum repayments back up to at least 5% of the debt left on the card.

The proposal will form part of a wider crackdown on credit card lending and follows a government white paper published in July. This outlined a ban on the controversial practice of sending out unsolicited credit card cheques.

These cheques can be used like ordinary personal cheques but come with a punitive rate of interest, and are often sent unsolicited to card customers with letters suggesting they are used for holidays or home improvements. Because credit card cheques are charged as cash advances, a £500 cheque can cost an extra £150 in charges over a year.

From next month, card issuers will only be able to supply these cheques if a borrower requests them.

In its announcement, the government is also expected to outline its intention to stop card issuers increasing existing borrowers' interest rates without explaining why or giving them notice of the change. It will propose stopping issuers upping a cardholder's credit limit, thereby encouraging them to borrow more, without that borrower asking for the increase.

It is understood that the government believes that while the credit card industry has made some changes to lending practices this year, it hasn't moved far and fast enough.

Another target is expected to be the adverse order of repayments currently applied by the majority of card issuers. Credit card users are routinely hit with hundreds of pounds in extra interest because banks force them to pay off their cheapest debts first. "Adverse order" means that by paying off your cheapest debt first, credit card companies let more expensive ones last longer thus earning extra interest.

This practice means we now overpay an estimated £500m every year, according to Nationwide building society, one of the few card issuers to allocate card payments in a positive way.

In the United States, legislation will be brought in next year to end this practice for American cardholders.

"This is an issue that affects people in different ways but it has the biggest impact on the most vulnerable," said Steve Blore at Nationwide. "It would not be good financial advice to tell someone who was trying to manage their unsecured debts to repay their cheapest debt first – but this is what most credit card providers do."

The government will implement a three-month public consultation period following the announcement.