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| Commercial bank | A financial institution that provides a broad range of services, from checking and savings accounts to business loans and credit cards. . |
| Comptroller of the Currency | An officer of the Treasury Department who is responsible for chartering national banks and has primary supervisory authority over them. |
| Consumer credit | Loans for personal or household use as opposed to business or commercial lending. |
| Consumer Credit Counseling Service | A service that offers counseling about how to work out a realistic budget and debt repayment plan and work with creditors. The goal is to ensure that debts are paid back over time. |
| Consumer Credit Protection Act | The Consumer Credit Protection Act, passed in 1968, for the first time spelled out basic consumer protections, including Truth in Lending disclosures. It requires creditors to state the cost of borrowing in understandable terms to allow consumers to figure out how much loans would cost, and to compare them. |
| Consumer debts | Debts incurred for personal, as opposed to business, needs. |
| Consumer price index | Also known as CPI. A measure of the cost of living determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. |
| Credit | Money that a lender gives to a borrower on condition of repayment over a certain period. |
| Credit bureau | A company that collects and sells information about how people handle credit. It issues credit reports that list how individuals manage their debts and make payments, how much untapped credit they have available and whether they have applied for any loans. The reports are made available to individuals and to creditors who profess to have a legitimate need for the information. The three major national credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian (formerly TRW) and Trans Union. |
| Credit card | A plastic card with a coded magnetic stripe that, when signed, entitles its bearer to a revolving line of credit, with a credit limit and interest rate determined by the borrower's income and credit report. |
| Credit history | A record of a person's debt payments. |
| Credit insurance | A policy that pays off the card debt should the borrower lose his job, die or become disabled. The structure of protection for a revolving credit card debt is calculated each month to cover only the debt that existed at the last billing cycle. |
| Credit life insurance | A type of life insurance that helps repay the loan if the consumer becomes disabled. It is optional coverage. When taken out, the cost of the policy is sometimes rolled into the loan principal amount. |
| Credit limit | The maximum amount of charges a cardholder may apply to the account. |
| Credit line | The maximum amount of money available in an open-end credit arrangement such as a credit card, or overdraft protection. |
| Credit rating | A judgment of someone's ability to repay debts, based on current and projected income and history of payment of past debts. Sometimes expressed as a number called a credit score |
| Credit report | A report that contains information about your borrowing habits and money-managing skills. Lenders use it to determine whether to approve a loan and to set the terms. A person with a good credit report is likely to get a better interest rate than someone with a poor credit report. |
| Credit reporting agency | A company that collects and sells information about how people handle credit. It issues credit reports that list how individuals manage their debts and make payments, how much untapped credit they have available and whether they have applied for any loans. The reports are made available to individuals and to creditors who profess to have a legitimate need for the information. The three major national credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian (formerly TRW) and Trans Union. |
| Credit repository | An antiquated term for a credit bureau. |
| Credit score | A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that reflects the credit history detailed by a person's credit report. Lenders calculate this number with the assistance of computer systems as part of the process of assigning rates and terms to the loans they make. |
