Line of Credit

The maximum borrowing power granted to a person from a financial institution.

Line of credit denotes a limit of credit extended by a bank to a customer, who can avail himself or herself of its full extent in dealing with the bank but cannot exceed this limit. It most frequently covers a series of transactions, in which case, when the customer's line of credit is nearly exhausted or not replenished, the customer is expected to reduce the indebtedness by submitting payments to the bank before making additional use of the line of credit.