Black listed: When someone has a bad credit rating and creditors refuse to give them new credit.

Credit: A legal agreement in which a borrower receives goods/cash now and agrees to repay the lender at some later date.

Credit Bureaux: Private companies that collect information on individuals' and companies' good and bad credit habits and sell this information to creditors.

Credit Limit: A credit limit is the monetary limit up to which credit grantors are willing to extend credit facilities to an individual or business. Credit limits are often subject to review (i.e. they can be either increased or decreased).

Credit Profile: A credit profile is a history of an individual's or business's repayment behaviour, compiled and stored by a credit bureau.

Interest: A charge for a loan, usually a percentage of the amount loaned.

Micro-Lenders: Companies or people who lend small amounts of money to consumers.