Explained: What is Credit and Why is it Important?
Credit - a word used quite often in our financial conversations, in some form or the other. Every time you thought about borrowing some money from a friend or taking a loan from the bank - you were actually thinking about credit. So what exactly is credit and how does it work? Let’s find out. What is Credit? Photo by rupixen.com / Unsplash Investopedia defines credit as ‘a contractual agreement in which a borrower receives something of value now and agrees to repay the lender at a later date—generally with interest.’ So, when you (borrower) take a loan from a bank (lender), you agree to repay the loan amount within a stipulated time with interest. This is credit as we understand it in our daily lives. Credit can also mean credit cards, credit reports, credit histories or credit scores in certain cases. Credit is also used when an individual receives money in cash or in his or her bank account. So a credit transaction like salary in your bank statemen...