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Text: TILA itself does not explicitly address whether over-limit fees are included within the definition of "finance charge." Congress defined "finance charge" as "all charges, payable directly or indirectly by the person to whom the credit is extended, and imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor as an incident to the extension of credit." § 1605(a). The Court of Appeals, however, made no attempt to clarify the scope of the critical term "incident to the extension of credit." The Court of Appeals recognized that, "`[i]n ascertaining the plain meaning of the statute, the court must look to the particular statutory language at issue, as well as the language and design of the statute as a whole.'" 295 F. 3d, at 529-530 (quoting K mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc., 486 U. S. 281, 291 (1988)). However, the Court of Appeals failed to examine TILA's other provisions, or even the surrounding language in § 1605, before reaching its conclusion. Because petitioners would not have imposed the over-limit fee had they not "granted [respondent's] request for additional credit, which resulted in her exceeding her credit limit," the Court of Appeals held that the over-limit fee in this case fell squarely within § 1605(a)'s definition of "finance charge." 295 F. 3d, at 528-529. Thus, the Court of Appeals rested *240 its holding primarily on its particular characterization of the transaction that led to the over-limit charge in this case.[3]

The Court of Appeals' characterization of the transaction in this case, however, is not supported even by the facts as set forth in respondent's complaint. Respondent alleged in her complaint that the over-limit fee is imposed for each month in which her balance exceeds the original credit limit. App. to Pet. for Cert. A39, ¶ 35. If this were true, however, the over-limit fee would be imposed not as a direct result of an extension of credit for a purchase that caused respondent to exceed her $2,000 limit, but rather as a result of the fact that her charges exceeded her $2,000 limit at the time respondent's monthly charges were officially calculated. Because over-limit fees, regardless of a creditor's particular billing practices, are imposed only when a consumer exceeds his credit limit, it is perfectly reasonable to characterize an over-limit fee not as a charge imposed for obtaining an extension of credit over a consumer's credit limit, but rather as a penalty for violating the credit agreement.

The Court of Appeals thus erred in resting its conclusion solely on this particular characterization of the details of credit card transactions, a characterization that is not clearly compelled by the terms and definitions of TILA, and one with which others could reasonably disagree. Certainly, regardless of how the fee is characterized, there is at least some connection between the over-limit fee and an extension of credit. But, this Court has recognized that the phrase *241 "incident to or in conjunction with" implies some necessary connection between the antecedent and its object, although it "does not place beyond rational debate the nature or extent of the required connection." Holly Farms Corp. v. NLRB, 517 U. S. 392, 403, n. 9 (1996) (internal quotation marks omitted). In other words, the phrase "incident to" does not make clear whether a substantial (as opposed to a remote) connection is required. Thus, unlike the Court of Appeals, we cannot conclude that the term "finance charge" unambiguously includes over-limit fees. That term, standing alone, is ambiguous.

Moreover, an examination of TILA's related provisions, as well as the full text of § 1605 itself, casts doubt on the Court of Appeals' interpretation of the statute. A consumer holding an open-end credit plan may incur two types of charges _x0097_ finance charges and "other charges which may be imposed as part of the plan." §§ 1637(a)(1)-(5). TILA does not make clear which charges fall into each category. But TILA's recognition of at least two categories of charges does make clear that Congress did not contemplate that all charges made in connection with an open-end credit plan would be considered "finance charges." And where TILA does explicitly address over-limit fees, it defines them as fees imposed "in connection with an extension of credit," § 1637(c)(1)(B)(iii), rather than "incident to the extension of credit," § 1605(a). Furthermore, none of § 1605's specific examples of charges that fall within the definition of "finance charge" includes over-limit or comparable fees. See, e. g., § 1605(a)(2) ("[s]ervice or carrying charge"); § 1605(a)(3) (loan fee or similar charge); § 1605(a)(6) (mortgage broker fees).[4]

*242 As our prior discussion indicates, the best interpretation of the term "finance charge" may exclude over-limit fees. But § 1605(a) is, at best, ambiguous, because neither § 1605(a) nor its surrounding provisions provides a clear answer. While we acknowledge that there may be some fees not explicitly addressed by § 1605(a)'s definition of "finance charge" but which are unambiguously included in or excluded by that definition, over-limit fees are not such fees.