Browse the glossary by topic or alphabetically.
A
- Account
- Depository or credit relationship between a customer and a financial institution that includes checking, savings, credit or money market agreements
- Account activity
- Summary of activity on an account, including starting balance, payments and credits
- Account history
- Transaction history of an account over a specified period
- Account number
- Unique number given to a current account; on bank statements and printed as the last group of computer-type figures at the bottom of checks
- Account statement
- Contains data about all operations of one's bill at the broker for the chosen period
- Accounting period
- Period of time (month, quarter, year) for which a financial statement is produced
- Accounts payable
- What a business owes to its suppliers and other creditors at a given point in time
- Accounts receivable
- Amount due to a business by its customers at a given point in time
- Accrual accounting
- Method of bookkeeping in which income and expenses are allocated to periods to which they apply, regardless of when actually received or paid (i.e. when an invoice is submitted, its value is added to income immediately, even though it has not been paid)
- Accrued interest
- Interest between the most recent interest payment and the present date but not yet paid to the lender
- Actual cash value (ACV)
- Value of property lost or damaged at the time of the loss
- Additional insured
- Person or party, other than the policyholder, who is added to a policy so that they will also be covered by that policy
- Adjusted gross income (AGI)
- Also known as net income, amount of income used to determine how much of one's income is taxable; calculated as gross income from taxable sources minus allowable deductions, such as unreimbursed business expenses, medical expenses, alimony and deductible retirement plan contributions
- Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM)
- Mortgage that features predetermined adjustments of the loan interest rate at regular intervals based on an established index
- After-market
- Vehicle accessory or alteration purchased from a company or vendor other than the manufacturer
- Altered vehicle
- Vehicle that has been modified from the original manufacturer's specifications for the primary purpose of increasing its performance capabilities
- Amendatory endorsement
- Endorsement issued by the insurance company which makes changes to the basic policy contract
- American Stock Exchange
- One of the key stock exchanges in the U.S., it consists mainly of stocks and bonds of companies that are small to medium-sized, compared with the shares of large corporations traded on the New York Stock Exchange
- Annual percentage rate (APR)
- Cost of credit expressed as an annual rate
- Annual percentage yield (APY)
- Percentage rate reflecting the total amount of interest paid on any account, based on the interest rate and compounding for a one-year period
- Annual report
- Annual publication that public corporations must provide to shareholders to describe their operations and financial conditions
- Annuity
- Long-term investment vehicle designed to help accumulate funds and provide income for retirement
- Antitrust law
- Policy or action that seeks to curtail monopolistic powers within a market
- Appraisal
- Estimate of the property value or of the extent of damage by an authorized person; performed to determine the value of the property at the time of a loss
- Arbitration
- Estimate of the property value or of the extent of damage by an authorized person; performed to determine the value of the property at the time of the loss
- Assets
- Personal possessions of value, including cash, real estate and investments
- Assignment
- Transfer of one person's interest in an insurance contract to another person; usually requires prior written consent of the insurer
- ATM fees
- Charges assessed by a bank as a convenience charge from a bank not associated with the person using the machine
- Audit
- Verification of financial records and accounting procedures generally conducted by a CPA or accounting firm
- Auto loss history
- Third party consumer report that provides a history of a person's automobile losses
- Automated clearing house (ACH)
- Networks used as a means to transfer money electronically between accounts at different institutions, usually in one day
- Automatic payment
- Preauthorized payment deducted automatically from an account to pay recurring bills; usually scheduled for the same calendar day of the month
- Automatic transfer
- Arrangement that moves money at certain specified times, often monthly, from one account into a different account
- Available balance
- Portion of a customer's account balance on which the bank has placed no restrictions, making it available for immediate withdrawals