consumer credit

noun

: credit granted to an individual especially to finance the purchase of consumer goods or to defray personal expenses

Examples of consumer credit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Roughly $80 million of that volume has been consumer credit, enabling customers to finance purchases directly within chat. —Ilona Limonta-Volkova, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026

Falling interest rates, rising Wall Street trading and advisory fees, stable consumer credit, and deregulation have all helped the lender, whose shares rose 25% last year. —Hugh Son, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2026

The American Financial Services Association, a national trade association for the consumer credit industry, argued in a recent statement that capping credit card interest rates would result in credit not being as readily available to American consumers. —Sudiksha Kochi, The Hill, 13 Jan. 2026

In Alaska and Michigan, legislators are nonetheless advancing bills to keep medical debt off consumer credit reports. —Rae Ellen Bichell, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1925, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for consumer credit

• accredit
• discredit
• noncredit
• dedit
• edit
• microcredit

Legal Definition

consumer credit

noun

: credit extended by merchants or banks to finance the purchase of consumer goods (as home appliances) or services (as travel or hotel accommodations) compare consumer debt at debt