Despite the imminent legislation which will outlaw unfair processing charges for credit and debit cards, airlines are continuing to rake in a whopping £265,000 every day from extra costs.

And airlines are not the only industry guilty of wringing every last penny out of the customer -several others, including cinema chains and train firms, are still continuing with the practice.

The issue was raised by consumer champion Which? in 2011 which helped to force through a review of the charges. As a result of the super-complaint, the government agreed to ban the exorbitant costs which in some cases can end up being more expensive than the ticket itself. However, because of the legal process the new legislation must follow, the changes will not be introduced until the end of 2012, leaving the offenders free to continue to charge customers whatever they want in the meantime.

Whilst many sectors were found to be overcharging for processing card payments, the budget airline firms were the worst offenders and although some have stopped levying the processing fees in return for a fixed charge, some have given the ruling the cold shoulder. Ryanair has been named as one of the firms which has so far refused to change its charging structure and is showing every sign that it will continue to cash in until forced to stop.

Despite the cost of processing a card payment being between 8p and 20p for the business, Ryanair charges an excruciating £48 extra for return tickets for a family of four, ensuring a healthy dollop of profit is squeezed out of the customer.

 Which? has said that it will continue to campaign for firms to drop the charges before the end of the year, to try and prevent further charges being piled onto ticket costs in the meantime.