™
Reference · A–Z
Business finance &
Business finance &
trade-mark glossary.
The words that come up around Credicorp business lending and the Creditcorp trade marks — defined in plain English, without the jargon. General information for UK company directors, not legal advice.
A
- AML and sanctions check
- A standard anti-money-laundering and sanctions screen run on the borrowing company and its director as part of an application. It confirms identity and checks the parties against published sanctions lists. It is not a personal credit check.
- Application published
- The UK Intellectual Property Office status meaning a trade-mark application has met the formal requirements and has been published in the Trade Marks Journal for two months, during which third parties with prior rights can oppose. The newer Creditcorp mark is currently in this status.
- APR (annual percentage rate)
- A yearly cost figure designed to compare consumer credit held for months or years. Short-term business finance is priced by a small daily rate (0.25% a day here), so an APR looks dramatically large even when the actual pounds-and-pence cost is modest. Compare the real cash cost, not the APR, over a few days or weeks.
- Article 60B (FSMA RAO 2001)
- The article of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 that defines when entering into a credit agreement as lender is a regulated activity. A "credit agreement" within Article 60B requires the borrower to be an "individual" or a "relevant recipient of credit" — see Article 60L. Lending to a UK limited company or LLP falls outside it.
- Article 60L (FSMA RAO 2001)
- The definitions article that sits with Article 60B. It defines "relevant recipient of credit" as a small mixed partnership or unincorporated body, explicitly excluding bodies corporate. "Individual" carries its ordinary natural-person meaning. Full text is on legislation.gov.uk.
- Automated decision (UK GDPR Article 22)
- A decision made solely by automated processing. Where an application is declined automatically, you have the right to ask for human intervention — given effect in the UK by section 14 of the Data Protection Act 2018. In practice the original decision is set aside and a person reviews the file afresh.
B
- Body corporate
- A legal entity with separate legal personality from its members. UK private limited companies are bodies corporate under section 16 of the Companies Act 2006; UK limited liability partnerships are bodies corporate under section 1 of the LLP Act 2000. Lending to a body corporate sits outside Article 60B — this is who Credicorp lends to.
C
- CCA 1974 (Consumer Credit Act 1974)
- The Act that governs credit agreements made with individuals and small non-corporate partnerships. It does not apply to lending to a UK limited company or LLP, so it does not apply to Credicorp business lending.
- CCJ (County Court Judgement)
- A court order confirming a debt is owed, recorded on the Register of Judgements. A company CCJ sits on the company credit file and is separate from any personal CCJ against a director. A company with CCJs can still be considered — satisfied judgements weigh more favourably than unsatisfied ones.
- Coexistence agreement
- A written agreement between two trade-mark holders setting out consent to each other's marks and how they may be used in parallel. The agreement between Credicorp Limited and CM Beyer Limited was signed 30 April 2026 and is governed by English law — it cross-licenses both the Credicorp and Creditcorp marks.
- Companies House
- The UK statutory register of companies. Records here are the source of truth for company names, numbers, registered offices, directors, accounts and charges. Credicorp Limited is company 16093826, incorporated 21 November 2024.
- Cost cap
- A hard ceiling on the total a borrower can ever repay. On every Credicorp product the total cost of credit is capped at 100% of the amount borrowed — so a £300 advance can never cost more than £300 in interest and fees combined, however long it runs.
- Credit agreement (within Article 60B)
- A specific defined term in Article 60B(3): "an agreement between an individual or relevant recipient of credit ('A') and any other person ('B') under which B provides A with credit of any amount." If the borrower is neither an individual nor a relevant recipient of credit, the agreement is not a credit agreement within Article 60B at all.
D
- Debenture
- A document that creates a charge over a company's assets to secure a debt, registered at Companies House. It can contain fixed charges (over specific assets) and a floating charge (over changing assets like stock). Whether a lender takes one depends on the product; check the term sheet before signing.
- Direct Debit
- An instruction that lets a business collect payments from a bank account on agreed dates, under the Direct Debit Guarantee. Credicorp Slice repayments are collected by Direct Debit on dates the borrower chooses.
- Drawdown
- Taking part of an available credit limit as actual funds. With Credicorp Flex you draw down what you need, when you need it, and pay interest only on the amount drawn — 0.25% a day on the drawn balance only — rather than on the whole limit.
E
- Establishment fee
- A one-time fee charged when a facility is set up. On the Business Bridging Loan and Credicorp Flex this is £5 — charged once, not per repayment, and it counts toward the 100% cost cap.
F
- FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)
- The UK regulator for financial services. The FCA authorises firms to carry on regulated activities including consumer-credit lending. Credicorp Limited is not authorised by the FCA — because lending only to bodies corporate is not a regulated activity, authorisation is not required.
- FCA Firm Reference Number (FRN)
- The unique number the FCA gives to each authorised firm. Lenders that hold FCA permissions display their FRN. Credicorp Limited does not hold FCA permissions for lending and therefore does not have an FRN for that activity.
- Figurative trade mark
- A trade mark filed with a specific visual design (stylised type, colours, devices) rather than as a pure text word mark. Both group marks — Credicorp and Creditcorp — are figurative marks.
- Financial promotion (s.21 FSMA)
- A communication, in the course of business, that is an "invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity". For credit, that means entering a "relevant credit agreement" as lender — which mirrors the Article 60B test. So promotions of body-corporate-only business lending sit outside the s.21 restriction.
- Fixed charge vs floating charge
- A fixed charge attaches to a specific asset (like a property or a machine) that cannot be sold without the lender's consent; a floating charge hovers over a changing pool of assets (like stock or debtors) and only "crystallises" onto them on default. Both are ways a lender can take security.
- FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service)
- A statutory dispute-resolution body for consumer financial-services complaints. FOS jurisdiction follows regulated activities; it does not cover Credicorp's business lending.
- FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme)
- A statutory compensation scheme that pays out if an authorised firm fails. FSCS coverage is for authorised firms; it does not cover Credicorp's business lending.
- FSMA (Financial Services and Markets Act 2000)
- The principal UK Act governing financial services, including s.21 (financial promotions). It is read together with the Regulated Activities Order 2001, which contains Articles 60B and 60L.
L
- LLP (Limited Liability Partnership)
- A UK body corporate created under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000. Section 1(2) confirms an LLP has separate legal personality. Like a limited company, an LLP is not an "individual" for Article 60B purposes — so an LLP can borrow from Credicorp.
N
- Nice classification
- The international classification of goods and services used by trade-mark offices worldwide, with 45 classes. Class 36 covers financial services; Class 45 covers legal services; Class 35 covers advertising and business administration. The Credicorp mark is registered in Classes 36 and 45; the Creditcorp application is in Classes 35 and 36.
- No personal guarantee
- Credicorp does not take a personal guarantee. The company is the only obligor — a director does not agree to be personally liable for the company's debt, and there is no charge over a director's home. This is different from secured and guaranteed lending, where an individual stands behind the debt.
O
- Open Banking
- A UK framework that lets a company share read-only access to its bank-account data with a regulated third party, securely and with consent. Credicorp uses it to read the last six months of business bank statements when assessing affordability — read-only, so it cannot move money.
- Opposition window
- The two-month period (extendable to three months by a TM7A) from publication of a trade-mark application during which third parties with prior rights can file an opposition. For the Creditcorp mark, the window closes around 15 July 2026.
P
- Personal guarantee
- A separate contract under which a director (or another individual) agrees to be personally liable for a company's debt if the company defaults. Credicorp does not take one — borrowing is at the company level only.
R
- Regulated activity
- An activity that requires FCA authorisation under FSMA. "Entering into a regulated credit agreement as lender" is a regulated activity under Article 60B — but only when the agreement meets the Article 60B definition, which excludes lending to bodies corporate.
- Relevant recipient of credit
- Defined in Article 60L as "a partnership consisting of two or three persons not all of whom are bodies corporate, or an unincorporated body of persons which does not consist entirely of bodies corporate and is not a partnership". Bodies corporate are excluded.
S
- Sole trader
- An individual carrying on business in their own name, not through a company or LLP. A sole trader is an "individual" for Article 60B purposes, so Credicorp does not lend to sole traders. Incorporating as a limited company is the route to qualify.
T
- TM7A
- The UK IPO form filed by a third party during the first two months of a trade-mark application's opposition window to extend that window to three months — used when the third party needs more time to decide whether to oppose.
- Trade Marks Journal
- The UK Intellectual Property Office's weekly publication of trade-mark applications, registrations and other notices. Each issue is identified by year/issue number — the Creditcorp mark was first advertised in 2026/020, published 15 May 2026.
U
- UK IPO (UK Intellectual Property Office)
- The UK government agency responsible for granting and maintaining intellectual-property rights including trade marks. It is the operating name of the Patent Office.
W
- Wordmark
- A trade mark consisting of a name or short phrase rather than a logo or device. Both group marks are filed as figurative wordmarks — the name in a specific visual treatment.
- Working capital
- The cash a company needs to fund day-to-day operations — paying suppliers, staff and overheads while waiting for customers to pay. A gap opens when money goes out before money comes in; short-term finance bridges that gap.
Go deeper
For the fuller regulatory and trade-mark story, see lending & regulation and the two trade marks. For product terms in plain English, read the Learn guides or the business finance jargon buster. The deeper group and legal reference lives at creditcorpgroup.co.uk ↗.
Now you know the words. Ready to borrow?
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