American Express Credit Cards

A American Express credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services to American Express. American Express, the issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the user.

An American Express credit card is different from a American Express charge card

An American Express credit card is different from a American Express charge card, where a American Express charge card requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, American Express credit cards allow the consumers to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are issued by local banks or credit unions, and are the shape and size specified by the ISO/IEC 7810 standard as ID-1.

Assets

Assets in business and accounting

In business and accounting, assets are economic resources owned by business or company. Anything tangible or intangible that one possesses, usually considered as applicable to the payment of one's debts is considered an asset. Simplistically stated, assets are things of value that can be readily converted into cash. The balance sheet of a firm records the monetary value of the assets owned by the firm. It is money and other valuables belonging to an individual or business. Two major asset classes are tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets. Current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment. Intangible assets are nonphysical resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the market place. Examples of intangible assets are goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, and financial assets, including such items as accounts receivable, bonds and stocks.

Bills

A bill is a document requesting payment for an order previously supplied. Presentation of a bill is common practice on the part of restaurants, credit card companies, utilities, and other service providers. The bill for something is the total price of all services and goods received but not paid for, and is presented in the expectation of immediate payment by the due date.

When a bill is paid for, as a part of the transaction, the company will usually provide a bill confirmation.

Unpaid bills

If a bill is not paid on time, various sanctions against the debtor may be taken, including late fees being added to the bill, negative credit reporting, suspension of the services being provided, employment of a collection agency to collect the amount due, or in the most extreme cases, legal action. The total amount of the bill is usually called the balance due.

Under English law, a person who makes off without paying the bill, or who dishonestly secures a remission in the amount payable, commits an criminal offence under the Theft Act 1978.

In the United States and most other democracies, a person who does not pay a bill cannot be held criminally liable. Debt is strictly a civil matter, and the creditor is limited to taking civil action against the debtor.

Common reasons for failure to pay a bill on time or at all include disorganization, forgetfulness, health problems that leave the customer out of commission to make payment, dispute of the charges on the bill, or difficulty in affording the bill.

Budget

A budget (from French bougette, purse) is generally a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods. In other terms, a budget is an organizational plan stated in monetary terms.

In summary, the purpose of budgeting is to:

1. Provide a forecast of revenues and expenditures i.e. construct a model of how our business might perform financially speaking if certain strategies, events and plans are carried out.
2. Enable the actual financial operation of the business to be measured against the forecast.

Personal or family budget

In a personal or family budget all sources of income (inflows) are identified and expenses (outflows) are planned with the intent of matching outflows to inflows (making ends meet.) In consumer theory, the equation restricting an individual or household to spend no more than its total resources is often called the budget constraint.

Collateral (finance)

In lending agreements, collateral is a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan. The collateral serves as protection for a lender against a borrower's risk of default - that is, any borrower failing to pay the principal and interest under the terms of a loan obligation. If a borrower does default on a loan (due to insolvency or other event), that borrower forfeits (gives up) the property pledged as collateral - and the lender then becomes the owner of the collateral. In a typical mortgage loan transaction, for instance, the real estate being acquired with the help of the loan serves as collateral. Should the buyer fail to pay the loan under the mortgage loan agreement, the ownership of the real estate is transferred to the bank. The bank uses a legal process called foreclosure to obtain real estate from a borrower who defaults on a mortgage loan obligation.

Concept of collateral

Collateral, especially within banking, may traditionally refer to secured lending (also known as asset-based lending). More recently, complex collateralisation arrangements are used to secure trade transactions (also known as capital market collateralization). The former often presents unilateral obligations, secured in the form of property, surety, guarantee or other as collateral (originally denoted by the term security), whereas the latter often presents bilateral obligations secured by more liquid assets such as cash or securities, often known as margin. Another example might be to ask for collateral in exchange for holding something of value until it is returned (e.g., I'll hold onto your wallet while you borrow my cell phone).

Credit

Credit is the provision of resources (such as granting a loan) by one party to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately, thereby generating a debt, and instead arranges either to repay or return those resources (or material(s) of equal value) at a later date. It is any form of deferred payment.[1] The first party is called a creditor, also known as a lender, while the second party is called a debtor, also known as a borrower.

Movements of financial capital are normally dependent on either credit or equity transfers. Credit is in turn dependent on the reputation or creditworthiness of the entity which takes responsibility for the funds.

Credit need not necessarily be based on formal monetary systems. The credit concept can be applied in barter economies based on the direct exchange of goods and services, and some would go so far as to suggest that the true nature of money is best described as a representation of the credit-debt relationships that exist in society (Ingham 2004 p.12-19).

Credit is denominated by a unit of account. Unlike money (by a strict definition), credit itself cannot act as a unit of account. However, many forms of credit can readily act as a medium of exchange. As such, various forms of credit are frequently referred to as money and are included in estimates of the money supply.

Credit is also traded in the market

Credit is also traded in the market. The purest form is the credit default swap market, which is essentially a traded market in credit insurance. A credit default swap represents the price at which two parties exchange this risk – the protection "seller" takes the risk of default of the credit in return for a payment, commonly denoted in basis points (one basis point is 1/100 of a percent) of the notional amount to be referenced, while the protection "buyer" pays this premium and in the case of default of the underlying (a loan, bond or other receivable), delivers this receivable to the protection seller and receives from the seller the par amount (that is, is made whole).

Credit Cards

A credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services.[1] The issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the user.

A credit card is different from a charge card

A credit card is different from a charge card, where a charge card requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, credit cards allow the consumers to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are issued by local banks or credit unions, and are the shape and size specified by the ISO/IEC 7810 standard as ID-1.

Credtitors

A creditor is a party (e.g. person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. [1] The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption (usually enforced by contract) that the second party will return an equivalent property or service. The second party is frequently called a debtor or borrower. The first party is the creditor, which is the lender of property, service or money.

Credtitors in the financial world

The term creditor is frequently used in the financial world, especially in reference to short term loans, long term bonds, and mortgages. In law, a person who has a money judgment entered in their favor by a court is called a judgment creditor.

The term Credtitor

The term creditor derives from the notion of credit. In modern America, credit refers to a rating which indicates the likelihood a borrower will pay back his or her loan. In earlier times, credit also referred to reputation or trustworthiness.

Debts

Debt is that which is owed; usually referencing assets owed, but the term can also cover moral obligations and other interactions not requiring money. In the case of assets, debt is a means of using future purchasing power in the present before a summation has been earned. Some companies and corporations use debt as a part of their overall corporate finance strategy.

A debt is created when a creditor agrees to lend a sum of assets to a debtor.

A debt is created when a creditor agrees to lend a sum of assets to a debtor. In modern society, debt is usually granted with expected repayment; in many cases, plus interest. Historically, debt was responsible for the creation of indentured servants.

Discover Credit Cards

A Discover credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services to Discover. Discover, the issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the user.

A Discover credit card is different from a Discover charge card

A Discover credit card is different from a Discover charge card, where a Discover charge card requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, Discover credit cards allow the consumers to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are issued by local banks or credit unions, and are the shape and size specified by the ISO/IEC 7810 standard as ID-1.

Finance

Finance is the science of funds management.

The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance.

Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated. It also deals with how money is spent and budgeted.

Finance works most basically through individuals and business organizations depositing money in a bank. The bank then lends the money out to other individuals or corporations for consumption or investment, and charges interest on the loans.

Loans have become increasingly packaged for resale, meaning that an investor buys the loan (debt) from a bank or directly from a corporation. Bonds are debt sold directly to investors from corporations, while that investor can then hold the debt and collect the interest or sell the debt on a secondary market. Banks are the main facilitators of funding through the provision of credit, although private equity, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other organizations have become important as they invest in various forms of debt. Financial assets, known as investments, are financially managed with careful attention to financial risk management to control financial risk. Financial instruments allow many forms of securitized assets to be traded on securities exchanges such as stock exchanges, including debt such as bonds as well as equity in publicly-traded corporations.

Financial Institutions

In financial economics, a financial institution is an institution that provides financial services for its clients or members. Probably the most important financial service provided by financial institutions is acting as financial intermediaries. Most financial institutions are highly regulated by government bodies. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial institution:

1. Deposit-taking institutions that accept and manage deposits and make loans (this category includes banks, credit unions, trust companies, and mortgage loan companies);
2. Insurance companies and pension funds; and
3. Brokers, underwriters and investment funds.

Function of Financial Institutions

Financial institutions provide service as intermediaries of the capital and debt markets. They are responsible for transferring funds from investors to companies, in need of those funds. The presence of financial institutions facilitate the flow of money through the economy. To do so, savings are pooled to mitigate the risk brought to provide funds for loans. Such is the primary means for depository institutions to develop revenue. Should the yield curve become inverse, firms in this arena will offer additional fee-generating services including securities underwriting, and prime brokerage.

Financing

Financing is the science of funds management.

The general areas of financing are business financing, personal financing, and public financing.

Financing includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated. It also deals with how money is spent and budgeted.

Financing works most basically through individuals and business organizations depositing money in a bank. The bank then lends the money out to other individuals or corporations for consumption or investment, and charges interest on the loans.

Loans have become increasingly packaged for resale, meaning that an investor buys the loan (debt) from a bank or directly from a corporation. Bonds are debt sold directly to investors from corporations, while that investor can then hold the debt and collect the interest or sell the debt on a secondary market. Banks are the main facilitators of funding through the provision of credit, although private equity, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other organizations have become important as they invest in various forms of debt. Financial assets, known as investments, are financially managed with careful attention to financial risk management to control financial risk. Financial instruments allow many forms of securitized assets to be traded on securities exchanges such as stock exchanges, including debt such as bonds as well as equity in publicly-traded corporations.

Fixed Interest Rates or Fixed Interest Rate Loans

A fixed interest rate loan is a loan where the interest rate doesn't fluctuate during the fixed rate period of the loan. This allows the borrower to accurately predict their future payments. Variable rate loans, by contrast, are anchored to the prevailing discount rate.

A fixed interest rate is based on the lender's assumptions about the average discount rate over the fixed rate period. For example, when the discount rate is historically low, fixed rates are normally higher than variable rates because interest rates are more likely to rise during the fixed rate period. Conversely, when interest rates are historically high, lenders normally offer a discount to borrowers to fix their interest rate over time, as rates are more likely to fall during the fixed rate period.

Some fixed interest loans - particularly mortgages intended for the use of people with previous adverse credit - have an 'extended overhang', that is to say that once the initial fixed rate period is over, the person taking out the loan is tied into it for a further extended period at a higher interest rate before they are able to redeem it.

Foreclosure

Foreclosureis the legal and professional proceeding in which a mortgagee, or other lien holder, usually a lender, obtains a court ordered termination of a mortgagor's equitable right of redemption. Usually a lender obtains a security interest from a borrower who mortgages or pledges an asset like a house to secure the loan. If the borrower defaults and the lender tries to repossess the property, courts of equity can grant the borrower the equitable right of redemption if the borrower repays the debt. While this equitable right exists, the lender cannot be sure that it can successfully repossess the property, thus the lender seeks to foreclose the equitable right of redemption. Other lien holders can also foreclose the owner's right of redemption for other debts, such as for overdue taxes, unpaid contractors' bills or overdue homeowners' association dues or assessments.

The Foreclosure Process

The foreclosure process as applied to residential mortgage loans is a bank or other secured creditor selling or repossessing a parcel of real property (immovable property) after the owner has failed to comply with an agreement between the lender and borrower called a "mortgage" or "deed of trust". Commonly, the violation of the mortgage is a default in payment of a promissory note, secured by a lien on the property. When the process is complete, the lender can sell the property and keep the proceeds to pay off its mortgage and any legal costs, and it is typically said that "the lender has foreclosed its mortgage or lien". If the promissory note was made with a recourse clause then if the sale does not bring enough to pay the existing balance of principal and fees the mortgagee can file a claim for a deficiency judgement.

Interest Rates

An interest rate is the price a borrower pays for the use of money they borrow from another burrowee, for instance a small company might borrow capital from a bank to buy new assets for their business, and the return a lender receives for deferring the use of funds, by lending it to the borrower. Interests rates are fundamental to a Capitalist society. Interest rates are normally expressed as a percentage rate over the period of one year.

Interest Rates Targets

Interest rates targets are also a vital tool of monetary policy and are taken into account when dealing with variables like investment, inflation, and unemployment.

Loan Payments

The most typical loan payment type is the fully amortizing payment in which each monthly rate has the same value over time.

The fixed monthly payment P for a loan of L for n months and a monthly interest rate c is P = L cdot frac{c,(1 + c)^n}{(1 + c)^n - 1}:

Abuses in lending

Predatory lending is one form of abuse in the granting of loans. It usually involves granting a loan in order to put the borrower in a position that one can gain advantage over him or her. Where the moneylender is not authorized, they could be considered a loan shark.

Usury is a different form of abuse, where the lender charges excessive interest. In different time periods and cultures the acceptable interest rate has varied, from no interest at all to unlimited interest rates. Credit card companies in some countries have been accused by consumer organisations of lending at usurious interest rates and making money out of frivolous "extra charges".

Abuses can also take place in the form of the customer abusing the lender by not repaying the loan or with an intent to defraud the lender.

Loopholes

A loophole is a weakness or exception that allows a system, such as a law or security, to be circumvented or otherwise avoided. Loopholes are searched for and used strategically in a variety of circumstances, including taxes, elections, politics, the criminal justice system, or in breaches of security.

A loophole in a law often contravenes the intent of the law without technically breaking it. For example, in some places, one may avoid paying taxes to the jurisdiction by forming a second residence in another location, or a commercial property can be built in a residential zone if it is made also for residential use.

In a security system, the one who breaches the system (such as an inmate escaping from prison or a terrorist) exploits the loophole during breach. Such weaknesses are often studied in advance by the violator, who spends time observing and learning the routine of the system and sometimes conducts surreptitious tests until such a loophole can be found.

Master Card Credit Cards

A Master Card credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services to Master Card. Master Card, the issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the user.

A Master Card credit card is different from a Master Card charge card

A Master Card credit card is different from a Master Card charge card, where a Master Card charge card requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, Master Card credit cards allow the consumers to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are issued by local banks or credit unions, and are the shape and size specified by the ISO/IEC 7810 standard as ID-1.

Personal Loans

A personal loan is a loan that is not backed by collateral. Also known as a signature loan or unsecured loan.

Unsecured loans are based solely upon the borrower's credit rating. As a result, they are often much more difficult to get than a secured loan, which also factors in the borrower's income. An unsecured loan is considered much cheaper and carries less risk to the borrower.[citation needed] However, when an unsecured loan is granted, it does not necessarily have to be based on a credit score. For example, if your friend lends you money without any collateral, meaning something of worth that can be repossessed if the loan isn't repaid, then your credit score has zero to do with it, but rather the value of your friendship is at stake. Therefore the real meaning of an unsecured loan is that it is not backed by any object of value and is lent to you based on your good name. For financial institutional purposes, they may want to look at your credit score because they are not your friend and it is strictly a business transaction, therefore your good name may be associated with your historical payment history on prior debt, reflecting in your credit score.

There are three types of personal or unsecured loans.

* First there is a personal unsecured loan, meaning a loan that you individually are responsible for the repayment of.
* Second is an unsecured business loan which leaves the business responsible for the repayment.
* Finally there is an unsecured business loan with a personal guarantee. With the latter, although the borrower is the business, you as an individual will be the payer of last resort if the business defaults on the loan.

Secured Debts or Secured Loans

A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan. The debt is thus secured against the collateral — in the event that the borrower defaults, the creditor takes possession of the asset used as collateral and may sell it to satisfy the debt by regaining the amount originally lent to the borrower. From the creditor's perspective this is a category of debt in which a lender has been granted a portion of the bundle of rights to specified property. The opposite of secured debt/loan is unsecured debt, which is not connected to any specific piece of property and instead the creditor may satisfy the debt against the borrower rather than just the borrower's collateral.

Purposes of Secured Debts or Secured Loans

There are two purposes for a loan secured by debt. In the first purpose, by extending the loan through securing the debt, the creditor is relieved of most of the financial risks involved because it allows the creditor to take the property in the event that the debt is not properly repaid. In exchange, this permits the second purpose where the debtors may receive loans on more favorable terms than that available for unsecured debt, or to be extended credit under circumstances when credit under terms of unsecured debt would not be extended at all. The creditor may offer a loan with attractive interest rates and repayment periods for the secured debt.

Secured loan

A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan. The debt is thus secured against the collateral — in the event that the borrower defaults, the creditor takes possession of the asset used as collateral and may sell it to satisfy the debt by regaining the amount originally lent to the borrower. From the creditor's perspective this is a category of debt in which a lender has been granted a portion of the bundle of rights to specified property. The opposite of secured debt/loan is unsecured debt, which is not connected to any specific piece of property and instead the creditor may satisfy the debt against the borrower rather than just the borrower's collateral.

Purposes of the Secured loan

There are two purposes for a loan secured by debt. In the first purpose, by extending the loan through securing the debt, the creditor is relieved of most of the financial risks involved because it allows the creditor to take the property in the event that the debt is not properly repaid. In exchange, this permits the second purpose where the debtors may receive loans on more favorable terms than that available for unsecured debt, or to be extended credit under circumstances when credit under terms of unsecured debt would not be extended at all. The creditor may offer a loan with attractive interest rates and repayment periods for the secured debt.

Signature Loans

A Signature loan is a loan that is not backed by collateral. Also known as a personal loan or unsecured loan.

Unsecured loans are based solely upon the borrower's credit rating. As a result, they are often much more difficult to get than a secured loan, which also factors in the borrower's income. An unsecured loan is considered much cheaper and carries less risk to the borrower.[citation needed] However, when an unsecured loan is granted, it does not necessarily have to be based on a credit score. For example, if your friend lends you money without any collateral, meaning something of worth that can be repossessed if the loan isn't repaid, then your credit score has zero to do with it, but rather the value of your friendship is at stake. Therefore the real meaning of an unsecured loan is that it is not backed by any object of value and is lent to you based on your good name. For financial institutional purposes, they may want to look at your credit score because they are not your friend and it is strictly a business transaction, therefore your good name may be associated with your historical payment history on prior debt, reflecting in your credit score.

There are three types of unsecured or signature loans.

* First there is a personal unsecured loan, meaning a loan that you individually are responsible for the repayment of.
* Second is an unsecured business loan which leaves the business responsible for the repayment.
* Finally there is an unsecured business loan with a personal guarantee. With the latter, although the borrower is the business, you as an individual will be the payer of last resort if the business defaults on the loan.

Unsecured Debts

In finance, unsecured debt refers to any type of debt or general obligation that is not collateralized by a lien on specific assets of the borrower in the case of a bankruptcy or liquidation.

Unsecured Debts in Bankruptcy

In the event of the bankruptcy of the borrower, the unsecured creditors will have a general claim on the assets of the borrower after the specific pledged assets have been assigned to the secured creditors, although the unsecured creditors will usually realize a smaller proportion of their claims than the secured creditors.

Unsecured Debts in some Legal Systems

In some legal systems, unsecured creditors who are also indebted to the insolvent debtor are able (and in some jurisdictions, required) to set-off the debts, which actually puts the unsecured creditor with a matured liability to the debtor in a pre-preferential position.

Unsecured Loans

An unsecured loan is a loan that is not backed by collateral. Also known as a signature loan or personal loan.

Unsecured loans are based solely upon the borrower's credit rating. As a result, they are often much more difficult to get than a secured loan, which also factors in the borrower's income. An unsecured loan is considered much cheaper and carries less risk to the borrower.[citation needed] However, when an unsecured loan is granted, it does not necessarily have to be based on a credit score. For example, if your friend lends you money without any collateral, meaning something of worth that can be repossessed if the loan isn't repaid, then your credit score has zero to do with it, but rather the value of your friendship is at stake. Therefore the real meaning of an unsecured loan is that it is not backed by any object of value and is lent to you based on your good name. For financial institutional purposes, they may want to look at your credit score because they are not your friend and it is strictly a business transaction, therefore your good name may be associated with your historical payment history on prior debt, reflecting in your credit score.

There are three types of unsecured loans.

* First there is a personal unsecured loan, meaning a loan that you individually are responsible for the repayment of.
* Second is an unsecured business loan which leaves the business responsible for the repayment.
* Finally there is an unsecured business loan with a personal guarantee. With the latter, although the borrower is the business, you as an individual will be the payer of last resort if the business defaults on the loan.

VISA Credit Cards

A VISA credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services to VISA. VISA, the issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the user.

A VISA credit card is different from a VISA charge card

A VISA credit card is different from a VISA charge card, where a VISA charge card requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, VISA credit cards allow the consumers to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are issued by local banks or credit unions, and are the shape and size specified by the ISO/IEC 7810 standard as ID-1.

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