Credit online can have two meanings. It refers to services that provide online credit verification on companies that conduct business over the Internet. It can also refer to online credit card applications and obtaining credit reports for individuals.

With the enormous growth of the Internet and electronic commerce, online credit, or trust, has become an increasingly important issue. Although the Internet offers tremendous new opportunities in business and other areas, there are also great uncertainties and risks in the online world. Does an online store have a good credit history? Can you trust the store to send you the product you are ordering and paying for in advance? Those questions center on the notion of credit and what that means.

Despite concerns about the safety of using credit cards for online purchases, e-commerce sales grew by 20 percent in 2001.

Credit can be defined as a...