What Is a Credit Monitoring Service? A credit monitoring service tracks changes in borrower behavior to notify consumers of potential fraud, as well as changes to their creditworthiness. For example, credit monitoring services can guard against identity theft, when an individual’s personal information is stolen and used without the person’s permission for nefarious purposes. If
What Is Credit Muling? Credit muling is a type of credit fraud that involves acquiring or delivering items that were obtained using credit. A common example of credit muling involves the resale of cell phones that were obtained for discounted rates as part of a multi-year contract with a telecommunications provider. Key Takeaways Credit muling
What Is Credit Netting? Credit netting is a practice common among large financial firms. It consists of consolidating a series of financial transactions and agreeing to carry out a single credit check that relates to the entire bundle of transactions. In this sense, the transactions are effectively combined, or “netted together.” This practice is common
What Is a Creditor? A creditor is an individual or institution that extends credit to another party to borrow money usually by a loan agreement or contract. Creditors are commonly classified as personal or real. Those who loan money to friends or family or a business that provides immediate supplies or services to a company
What Is Creditor Nation? A creditor nation has positive net international investment position (NIIP) after reconciling all of the financial transactions completed between it and the rest of the world. Simply put, it has a cumulative balance of payment surplus. Key Takeaways Creditor nations are those that lend more money to the world than they borrow
What Is Credit Quality? Credit quality is a measurement of an individual’s or company’s creditworthiness, or the ability to repay its debt. Credit quality is an indicator of credit risk. Credit quality is also one of the principal criteria used for judging the investment quality of a bond or a bond mutual fund. The credit quality
What Is a Credit Rating? The term credit rating refers to a quantified assessment of a borrower’s creditworthiness in general terms or with respect to a particular debt or financial obligation. A credit rating can be assigned to any entity that seeks to borrow money—an individual, a corporation, a state or provincial authority, or a
What Is the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA)? The Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) is a piece of consumer protection legislation that regulates the behavior of companies offering credit repair services. These companies charge customers a fee to help them improve their credit scores. Typically, this is done by disputing false and negative information contained
What Is a Credit Report? A credit report is a detailed breakdown of your credit history prepared by a credit bureau. Credit bureaus collect financial information about you and create credit reports based on that information, and lenders use the reports along with other details to determine your creditworthiness. In the United States there are
What Is a Credit Reporting Agency? A credit reporting agency is a business that maintains historical credit information on individuals and businesses. They receive reports from lenders and various other sources, compiled in a credit report that includes a credit score when issued. They may also be referred to as a credit reporting bureau. Key
