ECON VOCAB

Bankruptcy

Legal process in which a person or business declares inability to repay debts

Credit fraud

The theft and illegal use of someone else’s credit information

Identity theft

The act of gathering enough information about a person to assume his or her identity, and then using the identity to commit fraud/crime

Credit report

A lot of your credit history, with a credit score, maintained by each of 3 credit bureaus from which you can obtain one report free of charge annually

Creditor

A business from which a customer purchases goods/services and pays for them overtime

Annual percentage rate

The amount of interest on an account expressed as a yearly rate

Universal default

A provision in some credit card contracts that allows the company to review its customers credit reports and charge a higher interest rate if customers credit score goes down for any reason

Installment credit

A loan repaid with interest in equal amounts over a set time period