Credit Cards Glossary

Featured Credit Cards Term: Default - A credit card loan goes into default when a minimum payment is not made by the due date. Some credit issuers grant one late payment in a 12 month period without penalty, but others penalize the cardholder by raising interest rates to the amount outlined in the cardholder agreement (default rate or penalty rate). The credit issuer may also lower the line of credit.

More Credit Cards Terms

A

• Additional Cardholder - An authorized person can...
• Affinity Credit Card - A credit card offered...
• Annual Fee - A yearly fee to...
• Annual Percentage Rate (APR) - The yearly percentage rate...
• Authorized User - A person authorized to...
• Automatic Payment - A payment that is...
• Available Credit - The amount remaining of...

B

• Balance Transfer - The movement of an...
• Balance Transfer Fee - A one-time fee charged...
• Balance Transfer Rate - The interest rate attached...
• Balance-to-Limit Ratio - A factor in determining...
• Billing Cycle - The time between billing...
• Business Credit Card - Also known as a...

C

• Cardholder Agreement - The document of terms...
• Cash Advance - A cash advance is...
• Cash Advance Fee - A one-time fee charged...
• Cash Advance Rate - The interest rate attached...
• Chargeback - A credit card user...
• Collection - A delinquent credit account...
• Cosigner - A person who signs...
• Credit Bureau - A company which, upon...
• Credit Freeze - A halt on transactions...
• Credit Inquiry - A request by a...
• Credit Limit - The total amount of...
• Credit Monitoring - The act of overseeing...
• Credit Report - A report of an...
• Credit Score - A three-digit number issued...

D

• Deadbeat - A term sometimes used...
• Debt Consolidation - In credit card terms,...
• Default - A credit card loan...
• Double-Cycle Billing - Double-cycle billing is a...
• Due Date - The calendar date specified...

F

• Finance Charge - Interest costs and other...
• Fixed APR - Also know as "Fixed...
• Foreign Transaction Fee - A fee charged by...
• Fraud Alert - A security measured in...

G

• Go-To Rate - Refers to the interest...
• Grace Period - The time allowed to...

I

• Instant Decision - Also called "Instant Response."...
• Introductory APR - Also known as an...

J

• Joint Credit - A line of credit...

L

• Late Fee - A one-time fee charged...
• Linked Transfer Account - A person who has...

M

• Minimum Finance Charge - If a cardholder carries...
• Minimum Payment - The minimum amount of...

N

• Nondischargeable Debt - Debt that cannot be...

O

• Overdraft Protection - When a consumer chooses...
• Overlimit Fee - A fee charged when...

P

• Periodic Finance Charge - The finance charge for...
• Piggybacking - The practice of signing...
• Plastic - A generic term used...
• Prepaid Card - A secured, stored-value card...

R

• Regular APR - Also known as "ongoing...
• Reward Program - A program offered by...

S

• Schumer Box - Senator Charles E. Schumer...
• Secured Credit Card - A credit card that...
• Statement - A document present by...
• Student Credit Card - A credit card built...

T

• Teaser Rate - An introductory annual percentage...
• Two-Cycle Billing - A method of computing...

U

• Universal Default - A clause that allows...
• Unsecured Credit Card - A credit card that...

V

• Variable APR - An annual percentage rate...

W

• Wage Garnishing - A method debt collectors...

Z

• Zombie Debt - Essentially, zombie debt is...