Discount Window

The facility that lets banks borrow directly from the central bank, usually as a last resort.

The discount window is a central bank lending facility that allows commercial banks facing short-term funding shortfalls to borrow directly, typically against collateral and at a rate above normal market rates. Because using it can be seen as a sign of weakness, banks generally treat the discount window as a last resort rather than a routine funding source.

Rather than tap the discount window and risk looking desperate, the bank scrambled to borrow from other banks first.