|
|
|
|
|
| Total expense ratio | The percentage of monthly debt payments compared to total before-tax income. |
| Transaction date | The date that goods or services were purchased or the date the cash advance was made. |
| Treasury index | A table of yields being paid on government debt, used to determine interest-rate changes for adjustable-rate mortgages and other variable rate loans. |
| Truth in Lending Act | A federal law that requires lenders to provide certain information so borrowers can compare one loan to another. The most important facts lenders must provide are: finance charges in dollars and as an annual percentage rate (APR); the credit issuer or company providing the credit line and the size of the credit line; length of grace period, if any, before payment must be made; minimum payment required; any annual fees; and fees for credit insurance, if any. |
| Two-cycle billing | With the two-cycle method, the average daily balance is calculated from two billing cycles rather than one and finance charges are typically higher This method, in effect, wipes out the grace period for customers who carry a balance. If the bill is not paid in full at the first billing, interest becomes retroactive back to the purchase date. Most credit card issuers use the single-cycle average daily balance method to calculate finance charges. |
| Unsecured claim | A claim or debt for which a creditor holds no special assurance of payment, unlike a mortgage or lien; a debt for which credit was extended based solely upon the creditor's assessment of the debtor's future ability to pay. |
| Unsecured debt | Debt that is not guaranteed by the pledge of any collateral. Most credit cards are unsecured debt, which is a main reason why their interest rate is higher than other forms of lending, such as mortgages, which employ property as collateral. |
| Unsecured loan | An advance of money that is not secured by collateral. |
| Usage data | Data about where an individual goes and how much time is spent at a specific site. This is particularly useful for advertisers, whose payments are based on how many times the Web page containing their advertisement is viewed. Also, online services such as America Online must track a user's sign-on and sign-off times for billing purposes. |
| Usurious rate | A rate based on unnecessarily or unlawfully high interest; act or practice of lending money at high interest; sometimes intangible property taxes are applied to income from usurious rates. |
| Usury | Illegal, excessive interest. |
| Variable interest rate | Percentage that a borrower pays for the use of money, and which moves up or down periodically based on changes in other interest rates. |
| Variable rate | Percentage a borrower pays for the use of money, usually expressed as an annual percentage, and which fluctuates in tandem with a rate index. |
| VISA | VISA cards, a product of VISA USA, are distributed by financial institutions around the world. A VISA card holder borrows money against a credit line and repays those funds with interest if the balance is carried over from month to month in a revolving line of credit. |
| Waiver | The intentional and voluntary giving up of rights or claims. |
| Wall Street Journal prime rate | The fluctuating prime rate published in the Wall Street Journal, which surveys several banks to arrive at its number. |
| WSJ Prime Rate | The initials stand for the Wall Street Journal, which surveys large banks and publishes the consensus prime rate. It's the most widely quoted measure of the prime rate, which is the rate at which banks will lend money to their most-favored customers. The prime rate will move up or down in lock step with changes by the Federal Reserve Board. For more, see prime rate. |
| Zero balance | What shows on a credit card customer's bill when the outstanding balance has been paid and no new charges have been incurred during the billing cycle. |
