Financial Glossary

  1. Application
  2. Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
  3. Credit Cards
  4. Credit Report
  5. Credit Score
  6. Debit
  7. Debit Card
  8. Debt Consolidation Loan
  9. Finance Charge
  10. Fixed Rate
  11. Interest
  12. Interest Rate
  13. Introductory Rate
  14. Investor
  15. Loan
  16. Loan Application
  17. Monthly Payment
  18. Net worth
  19. Overdraft
  20. Payday Loans
  21. Pre-Paid Debit Cards
  22. Pre–Approved
  23. Savings Account
  24. Terms
  25. Unsecured debt
  26. Gross Income

Application

An initial statement of personal and financial information which is required to approve your credit card or loan.

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Annual Percentage Rate (APR)

The cost of credit expressed as a yearly rate. APR is a percentage that results from an equation considering the amount financed, the finance charges, and the term of the loan.

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Credit Cards

A plastic card (usually MasterCard, Maestro, Visa Electron or Amex), that gives access to a line of credit. Users are limited in how much they can spend, but they are not required to repay the full amount each month. Instead the balance accrues interest with only a minimum payment due.

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Credit Report

A detailed record of your credit history maintained by an agency such as Experian in the UK. When you apply for a loan, the lender requests your report from the agency to understand if you are capable of handling more credit. When you open up a new credit card, make a payment or miss a payment, all that information is added to your credit report.

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Credit Score

The information on your credit report and the information you provide on an application form to a lender can be used to build a credit score. This is a rating that can be used to identify the risk in offering you credit. There is no single credit score – different lenders take different factors into consideration when building their score and those scores may differ between a lender’s products.

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Debit

A bookkeeping term for a sum of money owed by an individual or institution; a charge deducted from an account.

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Debit Card

A banking card enhanced with cash machine and POS (point–of–sale)
features that can be used to buy goods and services electronically. The card essentially replaces cash or other forms of payment such as cheques. Transactions are deducted from the cardholder’s bank account either immediately or within one to three days. Depending upon the type of card, a modern debit card requires the user to enter a PIN (personal identification number) into a special device.

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Debt Consolidation Loan

A loan that puts all existing debt obligations into one debt – making
it easier to pay-off debt every month.

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Finance Charge

This is a rate of interest charged by a lender.

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Fixed Rate

A fixed interest rate that does not vary over time (fixed-rate mortgages are a prime example of this).

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Interest

This is the fee paid for the use of borrowed credit (money). Interest may be paid, for example, by an individual to a loan company or bank for credit card use or for loan repayments. Interest is expressed in terms of an annual percentage rate (APR).

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Interest Rate

The periodic charge, expressed as a percentage, for use of credit.This is essentially the percentage amount that determines the annual/yearly cost of credit.

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Introductory Rate

A temporarily low interest rate, used as incentive to entice a consumer to sign up for credit. After the introductory period, the rate will increase to the standard percentage.

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Investor

A money source for a lender.

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Loan

A financial arrangement through which you borrow an amount of money from a lender. You agree to pay back the total amount, plus an interest charge, through regular installments over a set period of time.

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Loan Application

The application includes detailed information about the borrower.

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Monthly Payment

The approximate amount of money you will be required to pay each month on a loan or lease.

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Net worth

The value of all assets, including cash, less total liabilities. It is often used as an underwriting guideline to indicate an individual’s creditworthiness and financial strength.

Overdraft

In banking, it’s a loan facility on a bank account. It allows the account holder to overdraw on his or her account (take out more money than is in the account) up to a certain limit (agreed by bank when account is opened) and interest is payable on the amount borrowed.

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Payday Loans

A Payday Loan is a usually a loan between £80 – £750 that can be borrowed for a month. At the end of the month you simply pay back what you borrowed plus the interest accumulated over that time-period.

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Pre-Paid Debit Cards

A payment card (usually MasterCard, Maestro, Visa Electron or Amex), pre-loaded with your own money, which you can then use wherever the payment card is accepted, including on the internet and abroad.

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Pre–Approved

A term used to denote a credit offer that is extended after the creditor has performed a credit pre–screening process.

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Savings Account

A bank account that accrues interest in exchange for use of the money on deposit.

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Terms

The period of time and the interest rate arranged between creditor and debtor to repay a loan.

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Unsecured debt

A credit source that is not guaranteed with collateral (for example, secured loans are usually lent against a house, a car or some other form of collateral).

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Gross Income

The income of the borrower before taxes, National Insurance and other expenses are required for qualifying purposes

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