Glossary Terms:

Any activity or organization that produces or exchanges goods or services for a profit.

In the context of credit transactions, character is one of the Three Cs of Credit. It is an indicator of how creditworthy a prospective borrower is likely to be, as determined by the borrower's handling of past debts and his or her stability in jobs and residences.

A written order to a financial institution directing the financial institution to pay a stated amount of money, as instructed, from the customer's account.

The study of how people, firms and societies choose to allocate scarce resources with alternative uses.

One who draws upon his or her skills and initiative to launch a new business venture with the aim of making a profit. Often a risk-taker, inclined to see opportunity when others do not.

A characteristic of people who assume the risk of organizing productive resources to produce goods and services; a resource.

Someone who creates or devises a new process, application, machine, or article of application.

Anything that is generally accepted as final payment for goods and services; serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value and a standard of value. Characteristics of money are portability, stability in value, uniformity, durability and acceptance.

A good or service that can be used to satisfy a want.

Income received for entrepreneurial skills and risk taking, calculated by subtracting all of a firm's explicit and implicit costs from its total revenues.

The chance of losing money.

Use money now to buy goods and services.

The amount of a good or service that producers are willing and able to offer for sale at each possible price during a given period of time.

An abstract measure of the satisfaction consumers derive from consuming goods and services.

Effort applied to achieve a purpose or result, often for pay; skills and knowledge put to use to get something done; employment at a job or in a position; occupation, profession, business, trade, craft, etc.