discount house

discount house

1. a financial institution (unique to the UK financial system) which specializes in the buying and selling of commercial BILLS OF EXCHANGE and government TREASURY BILLS. See DISCOUNT MARKET.
2. RETAILERS who sell products at low prices by bulk buying, accepting low margins and selling high volumes.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson

discount house

a financial institution (unique to the UK financial system) that specializes in the buying and selling of short-dated commercial BILLS OF EXCHANGE and government TREASURY BILLS in the DISCOUNT MARKET. They make their profit by borrowing money short-term from COMMERCIAL BANKS (CALL MONEY) and lending money for longer periods (up to three months), the small differential in interest rates between their short-term borrowing and longer-term lending constituting their profit. See TENDER ISSUE.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005