Debtor
Any individual that uses credit cards, holds a personal loan, is paying on a home mortgage, or borrows money from another company or individual with an agreement to repay the credit or loans over some period of time, typiclally with interest.

Debt Collector
Any individual, including attorneys, who regularly collects debts owed to others.

Debt Consolidation
A second mortgage or home equity line of credit which may help you lower your total cost of credit. These loans may provide certain tax advantages not available with other kinds of credit, but may also require your home as collateral.

Default APR
Interest rates charged to cardholders who default on some term of their credit agreement, such as missing payments or exceeding credit limits. These interest rates can be astronomical, currently as high as prime +25.99%. Credit cards who have widened their definition of "default" to "universal default" may even charge higher interest rates when you default with another creditor.

Double-billing cycle
Some credit card companies may use a double-billing cycle to calculate your balance due. This means that the due date on your statement refers to the minimum payment and differs from the due date to pay off the entire balance. Check the terms and conditions of your credit agreement to see how your balance will be calculated.

Debit Card
A card issued by a bank that directly accesses available funds from a bank account, typically a savings or checking account.

Default
When a customer doesn’t make a required payment to a credit card account, or otherwise violates the terms of the agreement between the credit card company and the customer.

Daily Periodic Rate
The Daily Periodic Rate is calculated by dividing the Annual Percentage Rate by 365 and rounding the figure to the fifth decimal place.

Date of Transaction
The date the transaction was made.

Deposit
Process of transmitting a batch of transactions from the merchant to the acquiring institution in preparation for settlement.

Discount Fee
Fee paid by the merchant to the merchant bank or other contracted party for processing the merchant’s credit card sales (transactions).