A short term investment vehicle with a maturity that is typically between 90 and 180 days. A bank or other financial instituion usually issues the security itself.The notes are backed by phsical assets suc has trade receivables , and are generally used for short-term financing needs.

A unit measuring movements in interest rates or margins. Basis point equals one-hundreth of one percent (0.01%) . Therefore, 100 basis points equlas one percentage point.

A company which is usually a wholly-owned subsidiary, that finances consumer purchases from a parent company.

a type of asset-backed security and structured credit product . CDO's hod a portfolio of fixed income assets and divide the cedit risk among different tranches (i.e. classes of bonds)

An amount of money that a financial institution extends which he customer may borrow.

A formal evaluation of an individual's credit history and ability to repay obligations.

The maximum balance that a creditor will allow a customer to owe a financial institution.

A bank card that allows depositors to pay for the cost of goods and services directly from their checking accounts electronically. Debit cards often combine the convenience of an automated teller machine (ATM) card and general purpose credit card.

Themanagement of consuemr debts by combining them in a single loan transaction from a financial institution. The effect is to lower monthly payments andextending the payment terms over a longer period of time.

A loan payment that is past due which is typically 30 days or more.

A widely used measure developed by Fair Isaac & Co. to predict the likelihood that credit users will pay their bills based on an anlysisof an individul's credit historycompared with others as well as historical performance.

A period when a creditorpermits a debt or to temproarily suspend or reduce payment.

The total amount of receivables (I.e. credit card, mortgage, etc.) including both securited receivables and receivables on a company's balance sheet.

The portion of a loan that a financial services company is unlikely to collect and writes off as bad debt expenses.Net Charge-offs can be reduced by recoveries of payments for loansd previously charged off.

A credit card issued under the name of a merhant such as a department store. Merchants issue private label cards carrying their brand names mainly to encourage brand loyalty and spendign at their store.

An operational measure that considers how much risk a company has taken on . This is calculated as risk-adjusted revenue (net interest income plus non-interest income , less net charge-offs) divided by average managed receivables.

A classification of borrowers with deficient or derrogatory credit histories. Subprime borrowers are defined as custoemrs with FICO scores below 620.

When a lender agrees to accept less than is owed on a debyt as full payment which may include forbearance.