Common Abbreviations

Barry — Wed, 11 May 2022 19:48:08 GMT

AA = (1) Adverse Action (lowered credit limits, closed cards, negative reports on credit, etc.) (2) American Airlines (esp. Citi AAdvantage or Barclays Aviator cobranded cards)

AAoA = Average Age of Accounts

AENB = American Express National Bank (aka AMEX)

AF = Annual Fee
AFAIK = As far as I know

AG = Attorney General

AMEX = American Express

AoOA = Age of Oldest Account

AOR = "App-O-Rama" (see App Spree)

AoYA = Age of Youngest Account

App = apply / application
App Spree = applying for several cards and/or credit lines in a short period of time

APR = Annual Percentage Rate

AR = Account Review (also U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve credit card)

AU = Additional user / Authorized user

AZEO - All Zero Except One. Method to maximize credit scores by having all credit cards report a $0 balance except one which reports 1-9% utilization

Baddie = Any negative or derogatory item on your report
BBB = Better Business Bureau

BBP = American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card

BBR = Bank Of America Better Balance Rewards Credit Card

BC/OBC = American Express Blue Cash / "Old Blue Cash"
BCE = American Express Blue Cash Everyday
BCP = American Express Blue Cash Preferred
BK or BR = Bankruptcy

BoA = Bank of America
BT = Balance Transfer
BTW = By The Way
BUMP = Used by someone when they are looking for an answer to the thread, but have not received one yet

CA = Collection Agency

Cap1 = Capital One Bank
CBR = Credit Bureau Report
CC = Credit Card
CCC = Credit Card Company
CCCS = Consumer Credit Counseling Services

CCT = Credit Check Total
CFL/CFA = Consumer Finance Loan - aka CFA (Consumer Finance Account)

CF = Chase Freedom Credit Card

CFU = Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

CFF = Chase Freedom FLEX Credit Card

CK = Credit Karma
CL = Credit Limit
CLD = Credit Line Decrease
CLI = Credit Line Increase

CLOC = Checking Line of Credit

CM = American Express Cash Magnet
CMRRR = Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested

CMS = Credit Management Service
CO = (1) Charge Off; (2) less frequently, Capital One

CR = Credit Report

CRA = Credit Reporting Agency (e.g. TransUnion, Equifax, Experian)
CRO = Credit Repair Organization
CRTP = Credit Reporting Time Period

CS = (1) Customer Service; (2) CreditSecure; (3) Credit Score

CSP = Chase Sapphire Preferred

CSR = (1) Customer Service Representative; (2) Chase Sapphire Reserve

CU = Credit Union

DC = Citibank Double Cash

DCU = Digital Credit Union

DD = Dear Daughter
Derog = Derogatory
DH = Dear Husband

DM = Dear Mother
DMP = Debt Management Program
DOFD = Date of First Delinquency
DOLA = Date of Last Activity

DP = (1) Data Point; (2) Citi Diamond Preferred

DS = Dear Son
DTI = Debt to Income
DV = Debt Validation
DW = Dear Wife

ED = American Express Every Day

EDP = American Express Every Day Preferred

EE = Early Exclusion

EO = Executive Office
EQ (also EFX) = Equifax

EX (also EXP, XPN) = Experian

FA = Fraud Alert
FAKO = Generic credit score (typically Vantage), not an actual FICO score
FC = Foreclosure

FCBA = Fair Credit Billing Act
FCRA = Fair Credit Reporting Act
FDCPA = Fair Debt Collections Practices Act
FI = (1) Financial Institution; (2) less frequently, Fair Isaac

FICO = Fair Isaac Credit Score

FOTM = Flavor Of The Month (popular new cards with uncertain duration)
FR = Financial Review

FSR = Friendly, Supportive & Respectful
FTC = Federal Trade Commision

FTF = Foreign Transaction Fee

FU = Chase Freedom Unlimited

FWIW = For What It's Worth

Gardening = Choosing NOT to apply for new lines of credit

GC = Green Card from Certified Mail

GECRB/GEMB = GE Capital Retail Bank/GE Money Bank (former names for Synchrony Bank)
GL = Good Luck
GW = Good Will

HELOC = Home Equity Line of Credit
HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

HP = Hard Pull

HTH = Hope This Helps

IIB = Included In Bankruptcy

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly
IME = In My Experience

IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
IMO = In My Opinion

INQ = Inquiry
ITS = Intend To Sue

JCP = JCPenney
JDB = Junk Debt Buyer
JK = Just Kidding

JMHO = Just My Humble Opinion

JMO = Just My Opinion

LOC = Line of Credit
LOL = Laughing Out Loud
LTV = Loan to Value

MF = (1) myFICO; (2) Monthly Fee

MOV = Method of Validation

MR = Membership Rewards

OBC = American Express Blue Cash Credit Card (aka Old Blue Cash)
OC = Original Collector or Original Creditor
OP = Original Poster or Original Post
OT = Off Topic

NFCU = Navy Federal Credit Union

NPSL = No Pre-Set Spending Limit (an available feature on AmEx charge cards and some Visa Signature/Infinite and/or World/World Elite MCs)

PC = Product Change

PenFed = Pentagon Federal Credit Union

PFB = Planet Feedback
PFD = Pay For Delete
PIF = Pay In Full

PII = Personal Identifying Information
PL = Personal Loan

PLCC = Private Label Credit Card (i.e., store card affinity or partnership)

PLOC = Personal Line of Credit
PM = Private Message

POI = Proof of Income

POT = Pay Over Time (a feature sometimes available on American Express charge cards)
PP = Permissible Purpose

PR = Public Record

PRG = American Express Premier Rewards Gold

QS = Capital One QuickSilver

RAT = Rewards Abuse Team (American Express National Bank)

RECON = Reconsideration

SCT = Shopping Cart Trick; pop-up CC pre-approval during a checkout process

SD = Sock Drawer (where CC's are placed that won't be used for a while)

SL = (1) Starting Limit (2) less frequently, Spending Limit

SM = (1) Secure Message (2) Sallie Mae CC from Barclays Bank

SO = Significant Other

SOL = Statute of Limitations
SP = Soft Pull

SSL - Share Secured Loan

SUB - Sign Up Bonus. Extra incentive for solely getting a credit card. Different than a spend requirement bonus

Subprime = less desirable; usually used to reference store cards or cards designed for lower credit scores

SW = ScoreWatch

SYNC/SYNCB = Synchrony Bank, formerly GE Capital Retail Bank/GE Money Bank

TC = TrueCredit
TD = Turned Down
TL = Tradeline (an entry in your credit history)

TOS = Terms of Service

TU = TransUnion

TYP = Citi Thank You Premier; also Citi Thank You Points

UR = Ultimate Rewards

USAA = United Services Automobile Association (provides banking, credit, insurance to current & former US military and their families)
UTL, UTIL = Utilization of debt to credit line

UW = Underwriting/Underwriter (someone who makes decisions regarding lending to customers)

VS = (1) Visa Signature (a tier level of benefits provided on Visa cards higher than Classic, Gold, Platinum but below Infinite); (2) Victoria's Secret; (3) Vantage Score

VI = Visa Infinite (the highest tier level of benefits provided by Visa)

WEMC = World Elite MasterCard (the highest tier level of MasterCard features, benefits similar to Visa Signature)
WMC = World MasterCard (offers special features from MasterCard, but not quite as many as World Elite)

WO = Write Off

YEMV = Your Experience May Vary
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary

topic Common Abbreviations in User Guidelines & General Information

Common Abbreviations