| APR | Annual Percentage Rate – the amount of interest you will pay on loans and credit cards. |
| ATM | Automated Teller Machine (Hole in the Wall). |
| BALANCE | The amount of money you have left in your account or the amout of money that you owe on your credit card. |
| BOUNCED CHEQUE | If someone writes a cheque and there is not enough money in their account usually the bank will return the cheque and charge you a fee for this. |
| CASHPOINT CARD | A card that can be used with a PIN number to get money out of an ATM. |
| CHEQUE | A written instruction to pay money to someone. |
| CREDIT | Credit is borrowed money that you can use to purchase things you need, when you need them and then repay the funds back at an agreed amount and time often with interest added. |
| CREDIT CARD | A card that allows you to buy now and pay later. |
| CREDIT REFERENCE AGENCY | An organisation that holds information about your credit history. |
| DEBIT CARD | A card that can be used for payment – the money is deducted immediately from your account. |
| GROSS PAY | The amount you earn from working before deductions such as tax and National insurance. |
| HIRE PURCHASE | A system of repayment by instalments (with interest) for the purchase of high cost items (e.g. a car). Different from other credit as you don't legally own the goods until you've paid back all the money you owe. Your contract is with a finance company (not the retailer) who will own the goods until the final payment is made. |
| INTEREST RATE | The amount of interest that will be charged. |
| ISA | Individual Savings Account (Pays you tax free interest). |
| NET PAY | Your wages from working after tax. |
| PENSION | State pensions are paid to people when they retire from work. The money is collected from National Insurance contributions. Many people take out private pensions to ensure they will have a better standard of life when they are older. Companies often offer their employees' pensions too. |
| TAX YEAR | A 12 month period starts 6th April and ends 5th April following year – your income tax is calculated using the amount you have earned in this period. |
