Debt settlement, also known as debt arbitration, debt negotiation or credit settlement, is an approach to debt reduction in which the debtor and creditor agree on a reduced balance that will be regarded as payment in full.

So you have some extra money in your pocket and you’ve decided to pay off one of your credit card collections early. You know that credit scores are extremely important so your goal is to pay off the collection that will yield the most credit score improvement — the “FICO ROI” (return on investment).