
Whether buying a pack of gum at a quickie mart, financing a car, or paying for a home or a college education, most people use some form of credit daily. Credit offers a way for us to get the things we want without having to carry cash, and it allows us to buy things we might not be able to afford all at once by paying over time.
What is credit? At the most basic level, credit is a promise that you will repay any loan according to the terms of the agreement between you and a lender.
If a friend has ever asked if they could borrow your money, you may have asked yourself whether they could pay you back. Lenders ask themselves similar questions and have devised a system to rate the likelihood that people will repay their debts. This system consists of credit reports and credit scores.