How lenders assess borrowers, and the scores, ratios and bureaus they rely on.
30 terms in this topic
Affordability is whether a person or household can meet the cost of a good, service or loan repayment without giving up essentials or taking on debt they cannot sustain.
Read definitionAn appraisal is a professional estimate of an asset's value at a set date, which lenders and lessors use to set loan-to-value ratios, price leases and assess collateral risk.
Read definitionBad credit finance is a broad category of lending products designed for borrowers whose credit history shows defaults, court judgments or bankruptcy, problems that make mainstream lenders hesitant.
Read definitionA balance sheet is a financial statement that shows a business's financial position at a specific date: what it owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities) and the owners' equity.
Read definitionCash flow is the movement of money into and out of a business over a period; unlike profit, it tracks actual receipts and payments, so it measures liquidity.
Read definitionComprehensive credit reporting (CCR) is the system under which lenders share positive credit information, such as repayment history and credit limits, as well as defaults, on your credit file.
Read definitionCredit is the ability to borrow money or receive goods and services now in return for a promise to repay later, usually with interest and fees on agreed terms.
Read definitionCredit loss is the amount a lender or creditor expects not to recover from a loan, trade receivable or lease because the borrower fails to pay.
Read definitionA credit rating is an independent assessment of how likely a government, company or debt issue is to meet its obligations on time, graded from AAA down to D.
Read definitionCredit risk is the possibility that a borrower or counterparty will default on their contractual repayments, leaving the lender or investor with a loss.
Read definitionA credit score is a number calculated from your credit report that tells lenders how likely you are to repay, based on your borrowing history.
Read definitionA creditor is a person, business or lender that is owed money by someone else, usually under a loan, an invoice or a supply agreement.
Read definitionThe debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) is a lending measure that divides the cash flow available for repayments by the debt repayments due over the same period.
Read definitionA debtor is a person or business that owes money to someone else, whether under a loan, a credit account or an unpaid invoice.
Read definitionA deposit is the upfront amount a buyer or borrower pays towards a purchase, either as part-payment on a sale contract or as cash contributed to asset finance.
Read definitionEquifax is a credit reporting body (credit bureau) that collects credit information from lenders and public records to build the credit files, reports and scores used to assess applications.
Read definitionEquity is the share of an asset you actually own: its market value less any debt secured against it, such as a mortgage.
Read definitionillion was an Australian credit reporting body, now part of Experian, whose consumer and commercial credit files still sit behind many lending decisions.
Read definitionAn inspection is a structured check of a leased or financed asset's identity, condition and usage against the contract, done before delivery, during the term or at return.
Read definitionA liability is a legal responsibility to pay money or answer for a loss; in accounting, a present obligation to transfer an economic resource, shown on the balance sheet.
Read definitionA loan-to-value ratio (LVR) is the amount you borrow as a percentage of the value of the security, usually property, and a key measure of lending risk.
Read definitionNear-prime is the credit-risk band between prime and sub-prime: borrowers whose credit history is mostly positive but carries one or two risk flags that lead lenders to add conditions.
Read definitionPrime is the lowest-risk credit tier: borrowers with a clean repayment history, stable income and low debt who receive a lender's best pricing and simplest terms.
Read definitionProbability of default (PD) is an estimate of the chance that a borrower will fail to meet their contractual repayments within a set period, usually one year.
Read definitionRatio analysis is the technique of turning balance sheet, profit and loss and cash flow figures into simple ratios that show a business's liquidity, profitability, efficiency and solvency.
Read definitionReceivables are amounts owed to your business, mainly by customers for goods or services supplied on credit, recorded as assets on the balance sheet until they are collected.
Read definitionServiceability is a lender's test of whether you can afford the repayments on a loan from your income, after living costs, existing debts and a rate buffer.
Read definitionSub-prime is the credit tier for borrowers and loans that carry materially higher risk than prime, because of a low credit score, unstable income, high debt or past defaults.
Read definitionUnderwriting is the process a lender or insurer uses to verify an application, assess the risk and decide whether to approve, decline, or approve with conditions and pricing.
Read definitionWorking capital is the difference between a business's current assets and current liabilities: the measure of whether it has enough liquid resources to meet obligations due within 12 months.
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