Credit Cards   Visa credit cardsMasterCard credit cardsAmerican Express credit cardsDiscover credit cards

Thursday, February 9th 2012
Credit Card Glossary

Credit Card Glossary: Terms and Definitions

Confused by credit card terms? CreditCards.com's glossary of credit card definitions will help. From account holder to Regulation Z, we have defined the most-common and most-confusing credit card terms.
#  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Charge-off
Charge-offs are the value of uncollected credit card balances removed from the books and charged against a bank's loss reserves. Your original card issuer will typically attempt to collect on the account only until it is 180 days past due. Once the account reaches that level of delinquency, most creditors will place the debt with an outside collections agency and "charge off" the debt from its books. For a card issuer, this is an accounting measure the creditor uses to move your account from an asset to a liability. For an individual, it's far more: Having a debt charged off has a serious, negative impact on a consumer's credit.

USA (English)   |   USA (Español)   |   UK   |   Australia   |   Canada