credit freeze
noun [ C, usually singular ]
ukus ECONOMICS, FINANCE
a situation in which actions by a government force banks to stop lending money:
A sign that the credit freeze may be thawing is a drop of .01% in the interest rate that banks charge to borrow from one another.
FINANCE US (also security freeze)
a service that allows consumers to prevent credit bureaus (= companies that collect and sell people's financial information) from selling the information in their files. Credit freezes are used for preventing identity theft (= the illegal use of another person's personal information):
The new law allows residents to place a credit freeze on their reports.
Keep in mind that a credit freeze will not prevent a thief from misusing your existing credit cards and accounts.