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Monday, March 15th 2010
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.
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Signature strip

A signature strip is an area on the back of a card coated with a white or gray material that holds ink. Imprinted above it are words to the effect of "Authorized signature, Not valid unless signed." Some people write "Show ID" in place of their signature, in an effort to discourage unauthorized use. While that may work in practice, merchants are not supposed to accept such cards.

Related Terms:apr, authentication, authorized amount, average daily balance, bank holding company, bankruptcy, billing statement, blocks, card member agreement, card reader, carders, carding, carding forums, cashing, chapter 11 bankruptcy, chapter 13 bankruptcy, closed loop, cob fraud, community property, credit card accountability, responsibility and disclosure act of 2009, credit card act of 2009, credit card number, credit history, credit union, dd (regulation dd), deadbeat, direct mail, dormant account, double-cycle billing, drop, dump, equal credit opportunity act (ecoa), equitable division, fair credit billing act, federal deposit insurance corporation, federal funds rate, federal reserve board, finance charge, floor limit, fraud alert, fraudulent transaction, fraudulent user, fulls, gift card, hold, in-house, interest rate cap, issuer identification number (iin), joint credit, man in the middle fraud, mandatory binding arbitration, medical identity theft, mutual savings bank, national bank, nondischargeable debt, open loop, phishing, pin cashing, prime rate (or prime interest rate), private label, receipt, regulation dd, regulation x, savings and loan association, savings bank, schumer box, skimming, thrift, time-barred debt, tranche, transactor, truncation, truth in lending act, truth in lending act, truth in savings act, two-cycle billing, universal default, void transaction, wage garnishment, x (regulation x), z (regulation), zip-zap machine
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