Personal Finance

Co-signer

A co-signer is a person who signs an agreement to pay off a loan for someone else if that someone else defaults. Co-signing is a technique often used among family and friends to allow a person with good credit to vouch for a person with new credit or bad credit to get a loan. The presence of a co-signer makes lenders more willing to approve loans for high-risk borrowers. While co-signing allows the person with bad credit to get a loan, it puts the person with good credit on the hook for the entire amount borrowed.

Joint Account

A joint account is a bank account equally shared by two or more individuals. Parties involved all share the associated rights and liabilities of the account and are regarded by law as co-owners of the account. This means that if anything happens to the account, such as defaults, overdrafts and fraud, all parties are affected. Being a joint account holder is different from being an authorized user. An authorized user has permission to make charges to a card, but is not responsible for payment.

Prepaid Card

A prepaid card is a form of secured card that is tied to a previously deposited cash balance. Purchases made with prepaid cards are checked for approval against existing funds. Essentially a stored-value card, they usually carry major association logos and can be spent in the same way.

Authorized User

An authorized user is any person who has permission to use a credit card account, but is not responsible for paying the bill. Authorized users differ from joint credit, in which both parties are obliged to pay. In some cases, the user will receive a credit card in his or her name, even though it is linked to someone else's account.

Credit History

Credit history is the record of use of debt. In the United States, three major credit bureaus -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax -- track individuals' and businesses' credit histories, and compile them into credit reports. Credit card issuers and other lenders use credit histories to decide whether to provide customers with credit, and on what terms. What records are kept in your credit history, for how long and how they may be used are regulated by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Piggybacking

Piggybacking is the act of improving your credit score or rating by becoming an authorized user on someone else's credit card. By doing this, the authorized user receives a spillover of benefits of the main accountholder's good credit. It is most often used by parents with their children or with spouses. For piggybacking to work, the "good credit" person must add the "bad credit" or "no credit" person as an authorized user, not the other way around.

Secure Credit Card

Secured credit cards require collateral -- usually a cash deposit with the issuing institution -- for approval. They are designed for people with no credit or poor credit. Some secured card marketers load these cards with high fees and unfavorable terms, taking advantage of the fact that those seeking the cards are often unsophisticated or desperate.

Additional cardholder

When you have a credit card, it is often possible to add an additional card to the account for use by someone else. The main cardholder remains responsible for making payments on all charges made, whether by the original cardholder or the additional cardholder.