Line of credit

A line of credit is any credit source extended to a government, business or individual by a bank or other financial institution. A line of credit may take several forms, such as overdraft protection, demand loan, export packing credit, term loan, discounting, purchase of commercial bills, etc. It is effectively a bank account that can readily be tapped at the borrower's discretion. Interest is paid only on money actually withdrawn. Lines of credit can be secured by collateral or unsecured.
Lines of credit are often extended by banks and financial institutions to creditworthy customers to address liquidity problems; such a line of credit is often called a Personal Line of Credit. The term is also used to mean the credit limit of a customer, that is, the maximum amount of credit a customer is allowed.