Your annual percentage rate expressed on a daily basis.

Swiping a debit card is the exact same thing as writing a check. When you buy something with a debit card, the purchase price is automatically deducted from your checking account. You then receive your monthly purchase statement from your own bank, but you do not need to make any payments because the money has already been withdrawn from your checking account.

Monies owed.

The ratio of the sum of all your credit card balances relative to the sum of the credit lines of your credit cards. For example, if you had 2 credit cards and each one had a credit line of $100 and a balance of $50 then your Debt-to-Available-Credit Ratio would be ($50+$50) / ($100+$100) = 50%

Violation of your terms and conditions agreement; failure to pay your loan / credit card as agreed.

The penalty interest rate assessed on a credit card, which is in default. Default APRs are usually above 20 percent. The definition of whether you are in default or not varies between credit card companies and based on whether you are using a small business credit card vs. a general consumer credit card. For some credit card companies, having missed a payment and/or having gone over limit can be considered as being in default. Some cards have a 'Default APR' and a 'Max Default APR' for seriously defaulted accounts.

The penalty interest rate assessed on a credit card, which is in default. Default APRs are usually above 20 percent. The definition of whether you are in default or not varies between credit card companies. For some credit card companies, having missed a payment and/or having gone over limit can be considered as being in default. Some cards have a 'Default APR' and a 'Max Default APR' for seriously defaulted accounts.

The penalty interest rate assessed on a credit card, which is in default. Default APRs are usually above 20 percent. The definition of whether you are in default or not varies between credit card companies. For some credit card companies, having missed a payment and/or having gone over limit can be considered as being in default. Some cards have a 'Default APR' and a 'Max Default APR' for seriously defaulted accounts.

Holding off on paying your debt.

Fancy term for saying that you are late on a loan or credit card payment. Sometimes you will hear: "30 days delinquent" or "60 days delinquent", etc. That means that it has been 30 or 60 days, respectively, since your credit card or loan was in "good standing" (i.e. not late).

Fancy term for "Late Payment Fee."

Fancy term for saying that you are late on a loan or credit card payment. Sometimes you will hear: "30 days delinquent" or "60 days delinquent", etc. That means that it has been 30 or 60 days, respectively, since your credit card or loan was in "good standing" (i.e. not late).

The means by which many credit card offers are extended and accepted. Direct mailings of credit card offers are an invitation to fraud.

A type of credit card from one of the four major credit networks. Discover cards are most famous for their cash-back bonus.

An argument between a credit card company and an account holder. Credit and charge card bills are governed, in the United States, by the Fair Credit Billing Act, which is included in the Truth in Lending Act (see Truth in Lending Act). If you think your bill is wrong, write to your card issuer at the address listed on your statement. You must write no later than 60 days after receiving the first statement where the error appeared. The card issuer must acknowledge your letter within 30 days, and correct the error or explain why it thinks the statement was correct, within two billing cycles (but in no event later than 90 days) after receipt of your letter. You do not have to pay the amount in question while it is being investigated, but you must pay the rest of your bill.

A fee that might be charged by your credit company in exchange for providing you with copies of documents that relate to your account.

A fee that might be charged by your credit company in exchange for providing you with copies of documents that relate to your account.

This is a fee that you might get charged whenever you have not used your card for any transactions over an extended period of time (e.g. 90 days). This fee is usually a monthly fee and is in addition to a standard monthly fee that a card might have.

Double-cycle billing describes the credit card company practice of determining monthly finance charges by looking at your average balance over the last two billing cycles (i.e. 60 days) instead of the more common practice of considering the average balance of the current billing cycle (i.e. 30 days). This often results in consumers paying more in interest. Example: The formula used to calculate Finance Charges (FC) is: FC= (Average Daily Balance * APR * Days in Billing Cycle) / Days in Year Therefore, if your Average Daily Balance was $600 one month and $200 the next and your APR was 10%, your finance charge under a double-cycle billing system would be $3.28 ($400 * 10% * 30 /365). Under a single-cycle billing system, the Finance Charge would be roughly half that, $1.64 ($200 * 10% *30 /365).

The calendar date that your payment is due in-hand to your credit card company or loan company.

This is the conversion that happens when an overseas merchant converts your credit card transaction from the local currency into U.S. dollars.