Financial Terms

The Differences Between APR, APY, and Interest Rates

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Annual Percentage Yield (APY)

The total amount of interest you pay on a loan or earn on a deposit account, over one year. It includes the nominal interest rate and the effect of compounding.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Differences Between APR, APY, and Interest Rates

Authorized User

An additional member on your credit card account. They receive their own card with their own name on it, but aren’t legally responsible for the credit card bill. Authorized users are typically spouses or other relatives but, technically, could be anyone.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here’s What You Need to Know

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Do Couples Benefit from Sharing Travel Credit Cards?

Average Daily Balance (ADB)

The sum of each day’s balance owed on a credit card, divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. The more activity on a credit card the more complex this calculation is.

RELATED ARTICLES

Best Ways to Use a 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card

Balance Transfer Credit Card

A credit card with a low or zero introductory APR to make it easier and less costly for users to transfer and pay off balances from other credit cards. Balance transfer credit cards typically charge a transfer fee of 3% or more of the balance being transferred.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here’s What You Need to Know

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Bill Payment Service

A bill payment service is a third party that facilitates payment from an individual’s or enterprise’s account (e.g., checking or credit card) to a vendor or service provider, for a fee.

Business Credit Card

A credit card designed for business owners and employees, often with business-focused rewards programs. Business cards may be charge cards or standard credit cards.

RELATED ARTICLES

Cash Advance

Using your credit card to obtain cash, such as through an ATM. All cash withdrawn must be paid back, usually with an added fee and accrued interest based on a different APR than the card’s APR for purchases.

RELATED ARTICLES

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Why You Shouldn’t Buy a Money Order with a Credit Card

Cash Back

Cash back is a credit card rewards benefit that refunds to the card member a small percentage of each purchase made with the card, usually as a statement credit. There are generally three tiers of cash back credit cards: flat-rate cash back cards offer the same percentage back on every purchase; tiered cash back cards offer a higher cash back percentage in certain spending categories like groceries or gas, and a lower rate on all other purchases; and rotating bonus cards, with which the spending categories that earn higher cash back percentages change periodically.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is Cash Back and How Does it Work?

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Guidelines for When and How to Refinance a Home Loan

Cash-Out Refinancing

A cash-out home loan refinancing is about raising cash. It involves replacing your existing mortgage with a new one whose amount is higher than what you owe on your current home loan, providing you with cash for other expenses and investments.

RELATED ARTICLES

Charge Card

A credit card with either no credit limit or a much higher limit than standard credit cards, but users must pay the balance in full each month. Charge cards do not charge interest for on-time payments but late payments can incur substantial fees.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here's What You Need to Know

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Closed Loop Gift Card

Can be used only at the store or brand issuing them—as opposed to open loop gift cards, which can be used virtually anywhere. Closed loop gift cards usually can be purchased without a fee from the issuing brand.

RELATED ARTICLES

Can You Buy Gift Cards With a Credit Card?

Compound Interest

This method of calculating interest accrues interest at various frequencies, escalating interest earnings. Used for an investment, you earn more; for a debt, it costs you more.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Differences Between APR, APY, and Interest Rates

Continuous Interest

An extreme form of compound interest whereby the frequency of compounding is considered infinite, used mostly in the world of financial derivatives.

RELATED ARTICLES

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Cosigner

A person who, along with the primary applicant, signs a credit card or loan application. The cosigner agrees to guarantee payment if the primary applicant is unable to repay the debt. The cosigner assumes legal responsibility for the debt.

RELATED ARTICLES

Credit Card

A payment card that offers users “mini-loans” to purchase goods and services, or to obtain cash, typically with monthly payback cycles. Users aren’t required to pay their balance in full each month, but when they don’t, they begin accruing interest on any unpaid purchase balance. Cash withdrawals typically accrue interest right away. A minimum payment is usually required each billing cycle.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here’s What You Need to Know

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Cutting the Confusion: Debit and Credit Cards are Way Different!

Do You Need a 0 Interest Credit Card?

How to Increase Your Credit Limit

Best Ways to Use a 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card

7 Ways to Get More from Your Travel Points Credit Card

How to Build Your Credit from Scratch—and Credit Cards Can Help

Credit Card Annual Fee

A fee you’ll pay just for having certain credit cards. Though there are "no-annual-fee" credit cards available, most experts agree it makes sense to compare how you intend to use a card with the perks and benefits it offers, then “do the math” to determine whether paying the fee makes sense for you.

RELATED ARTICLES

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Credit Card Outstanding Balance

The total amount of money you owe to your credit card company at any given moment. It changes with every purchase and payment.

Credit Card Statement

A printed or online summary of the credit card transactions you made during a billing period, usually monthly. It includes information such as purchases, fees, interest charges, payments, refund credits, and a total statement balance due.

RELATED ARTICLES

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Credit Card Statement Balance

The amount you owe the credit card company on purchases, cash advances, and other transactions made with your credit card for a given period, usually a month. This will change from billing period to billing period, unlike your outstanding balance, which changes with every transaction.

RELATED ARTICLES

What are Debt Management Programs and How Do They Work?

Credit Counseling Agency

A non-profit organization with counselors trained in debt management, budgeting, and consumer credit. They offer financial advice and can help get consumers out of debt through debt management programs.

RELATED ARTICLES

Credit Freeze

A free government-regulated function that prevents a credit reporting agency from releasing your credit report to anyone except existing creditors or a government agency with a court order, a subpoena, or a search warrant. You must freeze your credit with each credit bureau individually.

RELATED ARTICLES

How to Freeze Your Credit at All 3 Bureaus—For Free

How to Increase Your Credit Limit

Credit Limit

The maximum amount of money you can owe to your credit card company at any given time.

RELATED ARTICLES

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Credit Lock

An unregulated private service provided by credit bureaus and some independent providers that may carry a fee. It lets you quickly approve or deny access when a potential lender requests your credit report.

RELATED ARTICLES

How to Freeze Your Credit at All 3 Bureaus—For Free

Credit Report

A detailed, objective account of your financial situation and payment history that is typically provided to companies you want to borrow from or do business with (including when you apply for a job or to rent an apartment). Credit report data is used to calculate the simplified numerical representation of financial reliability known as your credit score.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Report and Why is it Important?

How to Dispute Your Credit Report at All 3 Bureaus

How to Freeze Your Credit at All 3 Bureaus—For Free

How to Build Your Credit from Scratch—and Credit Cards Can Help

Credit Reporting Agencies

Also known as credit bureaus, these agencies collect data from multiple sources to assess your creditworthiness—basically, whether you tend to pay what you owe. They then sell their credit reports to companies you want to do business with.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Report and Why is it Important?

How to Dispute Your Credit Report at All 3 Bureaus

What is a Credit Score and How is it Defined?

Credit Score

A credit score is a three-digit number that summarizes your credit history and is used by lenders to predict the likelihood you might fall 90 days or more behind in debt payments during the next two years. Any one person can have dozens of credit scores due to variations in data, scoring models, and timing. All current mainstream credit scores use a 300-850 scale, but older and some industry-specific credit scores can go higher or lower.

RELATED ARTICLES

How to Check Your Credit Score for Free

What is a Credit Report and Why is it Important?

How to Dispute Your Credit Report at All 3 Bureaus

What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a Car

How Often Does a Credit Score Update?

Credit Score Ranges: What is an Excellent, Good, or Poor Credit Score?

How to Build Your Credit from Scratch—and Credit Cards Can Help

Credit Utilization Rate

The ratio of your outstanding credit card balances to your credit card limits. It measures the percent of available credit you are using. Credit rating bureaus reward lower credit utilization rates with higher credit scores, and 30% or less is considered good.

RELATED ARTICLES

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Daily Periodic Rate (DPR)

A credit card’s APR divided by 360 or 365 days. DPR is applied to average daily balances as part of credit card interest charge calculations.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Differences Between APR, APY, and Interest Rates

Debit Card

A payment card that lets users electronically transfer money directly from their bank account to make a purchase or to obtain cash.

RELATED ARTICLES

Cutting the Confusion: Debit and Credit Cards are Way Different!

What is a Credit Card? Here’s What You Need to Know

Debt Avalanche

A debt repayment strategy that targets paying off debts from highest to lowest interest, regardless of loan size.

RELATED ARTICLES

Melt Away Debt With the Debt Snowball Method

Debt Consolidation

Rolling up several credit card balances, outstanding loans, and other debts into one, bigger loan with a single, lower monthly payment.

RELATED ARTICLES

What Is Debt Consolidation and Why Should Millennials Care?

How to Consolidate Debt: 9 Steps to Regain Control

What is Debt Free Living?

Debt Free Living

Purists define debt free living as achieving and maintaining zero debt, in the interest of saving money and enjoying financial independence. Pragmatists keep some kinds of debt, such as mortgages, out of their equation for debt free living.

RELATED ARTICLES

Debt Management Program

Agreed-upon plans between a creditor, debtor, and third-party non-profit credit counseling agency to help the debtor reduce their outstanding, unsecured debt, typically over a payoff period of about five years.

RELATED ARTICLES

What are Debt Management Programs and How Do They Work?

Debt Relief Services

Agencies that act on your behalf to renegotiate, settle, or change the terms of debt with your creditor(s), often for a large fee. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers dealing with debt relief (or debt settlement) companies as risky, and suggests working with nonprofit credit counselors or directly negotiating with your creditors.

RELATED ARTICLES

Are Debt Relief Programs Too Good to be True?

Debt Settlement

A debt reduction method in which the credit issuer allows a consumer to pay off their debt for less than the original balance owed, typically in the form of a lump-sum.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is Debt Settlement and How Does it Work?

Debt Snowball

A debt repayment strategy that targets paying off debt from smallest to largest, regardless of interest rate.

RELATED ARTICLES

Melt Away Debt With the Debt Snowball Method

Melt Away Debt With the Debt Snowball Method

Debt Snowflaking

A debt repayment strategy that involves putting any extra sums of money toward debt repayment.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Hard Truth About How to Retire Early

Down Payment

The amount of money paid by a buyer at the time of purchase, most often when buying a house or a car. With a car, it can take the form of a cash payment, a trade-in, or a combination of the two. The difference between the down payment and the price of the car is the amount that the buyer needs to finance through a loan.

Early Retirement

The modern view of early retirement is broad and fluid. Some people look to retire as early as 30- or 40-something. And they may “retire” in name only, actually embarking on a second career. To many other people, it means an end to work in their early to mid-60s, which is when Social Security benefits can begin (age 62, at a discounted level from “full retirement age”), as well as Medicare benefits (age 65). The full retirement age is gradually being extended by the Social Security Administration to 67, for those born in 1960 or later.

RELATED ARTICLES

Explaining 6 Key Types of Retirement Plans

Effective Annual Rate (EAR)

Another term for annual percentage yield (APY).

RELATED ARTICLES

The Differences Between APR, APY, and Interest Rates

Exact Interest

A calculation of the daily periodic interest rate typically used in credit card interest formulas that uses 365 days per year.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Finance Charge on a Credit Card?

Finance Charge

The sum of all fees associated with using credit, to be paid to the credit card issuer or lender. Finance charges include interest, foreign transaction fees, annual fees, and any other credit-related fee.

RELATED ARTICLES

Financial Planning

A process by which you develop a savings and investment plan to help you achieve your goals in life. It requires building statements of income, expenses, assets and liabilities, and generally starts by assessing your net worth and personal cash flow. Some aspects of the financial planning process can be emotionally difficult—like figuring out what your life goals really are. Some require making choices about future uncertainties.

RELATED ARTICLES

What Exactly is Personal Finance Management?

Financial Planning Process: What it Is & How it Works

FIRE Movement

FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early, and members of this informal movement begin looking to retire—or at least engage in alternative workstyles and passion projects—as early as their 30s and 40s.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Hard Truth About How to Retire Early

Foreign Transaction Fees

A fee for making a purchase in a foreign currency. Not all cards have foreign transaction fees.

RELATED ARTICLES

What You Should Know About Foreign Transaction Fees

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Fraud Alert

A free government-regulated function that allows creditors to get a copy of your credit report only if they take steps to verify that you are really the person making the credit request.

RELATED ARTICLES

Should I Freeze My Credit? Survey Says ...

Gas Credit Card

A credit card that provides discounts, cash rebates or other rewards towards gas purchases. Gas credit cards are usually associated with one brand of gas and are co-branded with a credit card network.

RELATED ARTICLES

How Do Gas Credit Cards Work?

The Different Benefits of Gas and Airline Miles Credit Cards

Grace Period

The period between the end of a billing cycle and the date your payment is due. You usually aren’t charged interest during the grace period, as long as you pay your statement balance in full, on time, each month.

RELATED ARTICLES

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Guaranteed Approval

Generally for people with poor credit such as first time or subprime borrowers, guaranteed approval credit cards are “guaranteed” because they don’t require a credit check. They include secured credit cards, for example, which require a cash deposit. Your application may still be declined if you don’t meet certain basic criteria, such as having a valid bank account.

RELATED ARTICLES

How to Get an Instant Approval Credit Card—and Use it Instantly!

Hotel Credit Card

A type of rewards credit card that is created by a hotel company in partnership with a credit card issuer. It typically provides the greatest benefits for spending with, and staying at, that hotel company’s properties.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here's What You Need to Know

8 Ways to Save on Last-Minute Holiday Travel

How to Stay for Free with a Hotel Credit Card

Do Couples Benefit from Sharing Travel Credit Cards?

How to Earn a Beach Vacation with a Credit Card

Identity Theft

Using another person's private identifying information for financial gain. Identity thieves can open new credit card accounts in your name, for example, or file false tax returns for large refunds. They have been known to file false requests to stop your mail delivery in order to intercept documents.

RELATED ARTICLES

How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

How to Freeze Your Credit at All 3 Bureaus—For Free

4 Different Types of Credit Protection You May Need

Installment Loan

The borrower is loaned a lump sum that is then paid off in regular monthly payments at a fixed interest rate. By comparison, revolving loans generally have a principal balance that varies and carries forward from month to month, and monthly payments can fluctuate due to purchasing levels and variable interest rates.

RELATED ARTICLES

Should You Take Out a Personal Loan to Pay Off Credit Card Debt?

Instant Approval

A process in which a credit card application is evaluated and a decision made in real time. Instant approval is typically done with an online application. Despite the “approval” in the term, it’s always possible that your application will be “instantly” declined.

RELATED ARTICLES

How to Get an Instant Approval Credit Card—and Use it Instantly!

Interest

The amount of money a lender charges a borrower for a set amount of money (the principal), usually expressed as an annual percentage of the principal.

RELATED ARTICLES

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Late Payment

A bill payment made after the due date. Late payments may incur a fee.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here’s What You Need to Know

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your First Credit Card

Limited-Purpose/Store Credit Cards

Credit cards that can only be used at specific locations, like a particular gas station or retail store brand. Otherwise, they typically operate like standard credit cards and may provide discounts or rewards points.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here's What You Need to Know

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Loan Term

The length of a loan, typically given in months or years. For cars, some common loan terms are 36 months, 48 months, and 60 months; for home loans, the most common term is 30 years, though 15- and 20-year terms are also available.

Modified Adjusted Gross Income

A key factor when filing your taxes, for purposes like qualifying for a Roth IRA or getting a government-subsidized health insurance plan, modified adjusted gross income is your adjusted gross with certain items added back in.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is Modified Adjusted Gross Income?

Money Order

A printed order for payment of a specified sum, issued by a bank, the U.S. Postal Service, or certain retailers.

Related Articles

Why You Shouldn’t Buy a Money Order with a Credit Card

Money Management

A process of budgeting, saving, investing, spending, or otherwise overseeing the funds available to an individual or group.

Related Articles

How to Manage Your Money Better

Nominal Interest Rate

The stated annual interest rate on a loan.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Differences Between APR, APY, and Interest Rates

Open Loop Gift Card

Typically issued by major credit card companies or financial institutions, open loop gift cards can be used virtually anywhere, online or in store. You’ll often pay a fee to buy an open loop gift card, depending on where it is purchased.

RELATED ARTICLES

Can You Buy Gift Cards With a Credit Card?

Ordinary Interest

A calculation of the daily periodic interest rate typically used in credit card interest that uses 360 days per year..

RELATED ARTICLES

Periodic Interest Rate

The nominal interest rate for a specific period of time, such as monthly or daily. It is determined by dividing the annual interest rate by the number of times per year interest compounds.

RELATED ARTICLES

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Prepaid Cards

A card that must be pre-loaded with cash before it can be used for purchases. Prepaid cards are not technically credit cards and therefore do not affect your credit score.

RELATED ARTICLES

Pre-Qualification

Pre-qualification is how you find out which offers you're eligible for when a lender reviews your credit and extends a conditional offer. Depending on your credit profile, you might be eligible for more personalized offers, say, a higher Welcome Bonus, or a lower APR. If you apply for a credit card, your application will still be subject to the card issuer’s credit approval process.

Prime Rate

A common benchmark used for setting variable interest rates for consumer loans, the prime rate is the interest rate banks charge their very best customers.

RELATED ARTICLES

Guidelines for When and How to Refinance a Home Loan

Principal

An amount of money being borrowed or invested. If a loan, the principal will initially be the total amount of the loan. After each monthly payment, the outstanding principal declines, although not by the full amount of the payment because a portion goes toward paying the loan’s interest.

Rate-and-Term Refinancing

A rate-and-term home loan refinancing is about saving money, usually by replacing your current mortgage with a new one that has a lower interest rate and/or shorter repayment schedule.

RELATED ARTICLES

Rewards Credit Card

A credit card that rewards spending with cash rebates, points or other rewards.

RELATED ARTICLES

Comparing Hotel and General-Purpose Travel Credit Cards

What is Cash Back and How Does it Work?

What is a Credit Card? What is a Credit Card? Here's What You Need to Know

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

How Do Gas Credit Cards Work?

The Different Benefits of Gas and Airline Miles Credit Cards

How to Stay for Free with a Hotel Credit Card

5 Hacks to Help Earn Soaring Airline Miles—And Travel Points!

Do Couples Benefit from Sharing Travel Credit Cards?

Secured Credit Card

A secured credit card is backed by a cash deposit from the card member. This deposit is collateral on the account, acting as security in case the card member can't make payments. Secured credit cards are often issued to borrowers with poor, limited, or no credit history.

RELATED ARTICLES

What is a Credit Card? Here’s What You Need to Know

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Should You Take Out a Personal Loan to Pay Off Credit Card Debt?

Secured Loan

A loan for which the borrower pledges some asset, such as a car or property, as loan collateral.

RELATED ARTICLES

Simple Interest

The most straightforward way interest is calculated, it multiplies the principal times the nominal, or published, annual interest rate times however many years the sum will be outstanding.

RELATED ARTICLES

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences

Store Credit Card

Credit cards that can only be used at specific locations, like a particular gas station or retail store brand. Otherwise, they typically operate like standard credit cards and may provide discounts or rewards points.

RELATED ARTICLES

Student Credit Card

A product offered by some banks and intended to be a consumer’s first credit card. Applicants typically must prove they are enrolled at a qualifying college or university. They often have higher interest rates, lower fees, and lesser rewards than standard cards.

RELATED ARTICLES

Guide for Parents: How College Students Spend Money

Types of Credit Cards: Understanding the Differences