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.

Usury

The lending of money at exorbitant interest rates. Many states have usury laws that cap interest rates, but a 1978 Supreme Court rulings allowed credit cards or other lenders to ignore those laws if the lender is headquartered in a state that does not have them. Most major card issuers have located their headquarters in states with no usury laws, and hence there is no cap on most credit cards' interest rates.