Financial Assistance Agency
Any credit repair, debt consolidation, credit counseling, or other agency offering financial assistance to individuals. Some agencies are not-for-profit, funded by communities, governments, or even creditors.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
Prohibits debt collectors from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices when collecting debts.

Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA)
Establishes guidelines for correcting mistakes on credit billing account statements.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
Ensures that consumer reporting agencies provide correct, complete information to other businesses. This law was designed to promote accuracy and ensure the privacy of the consumer information contained in credit reports.

Finance Charge
This is the charge for using your credit card, including interest costs and any additional fees (such as balance transfer, cash-advance, or over-the-limit fees.)

Fixed Rate
An APR term not explicitly tied to changes in other interest rates. Keep in mind that this rate can also change, but typically not with the frequency of a variable rate. Also, the card issuer is required to notify you before changing your rate, to give you the opportunity to cancel your card. Your APR may also be subject to change based on the timeliness of your payments.

Free period
Credit cards may grant a designated free period, generally ranging from 20-30 days, during which you can avoid interest charges by paying off your balance in full. Free periods may not apply to cash advances. Also called a "grace period".

Fraudulent Transaction
A transaction unauthorized by the cardholder of a bankcard. Such transactions are categorized as lost, stolen, not received, issued on a fraudulent application, counterfeit, fraudulent processing of transactions, account takeover, or other fraudulent conditions as defined by the card company or the member company.

Floor Limit
An amount that Visa and MasterCard have established for single transactions at specific types of merchant outlets and branches, above which authorisation is required.

Fraudulent User
An individual who is not the cardholder or designee and who uses a card (or, in a mail/phone order or recurring transaction, an account number) to obtain goods or services without the cardholder’s consent.