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revolving charge account

revolving charge account

7.5
A payment plan that lets you keep owing money and pay over time
  • noun
  • /rɪˈvɑlvɪŋ tʃɑrdʒ əˈkaʊnt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cuenta de crédito revolving
  • If you keep a balance on your revolving charge account, you'll accrue interest until it's paid off.

Examples

  • He opened a revolving charge account at the department store to make monthly purchases.

  • I opened a revolving charge account at my favorite store.

  • The interest rate on a revolving charge account can be much higher than on other types of loans.

  • Do you have a revolving charge account with that bank?

  • Many shoppers prefer a revolving charge account because it allows them to make purchases without paying the full balance each month.

  • With a revolving charge account, you can manage your expenses by paying a portion of your bill each cycle.

  • She opened a revolving charge account at her favorite store to help spread out the cost of her purchases.

Synonyms

revolving credit
vsrevolving charge account
  • Specialized
1 5.6

A loan you can use again up to a set limit while you repay the balance

allows carrying a balance month to month without full payment each billing cycle
charge account credit
vsrevolving charge account
3.9

A way to buy now at a shop and pay later up to a set limit you can repay anytime

permits carrying unpaid balances month to month instead of only allowing paydown

Surface Forms

Morphology

revolve + charge + account

The parts (revolve + charge + account) give a loose hint of something recurring or rotating about payments, but the specific banking sense — an account that allows you to carry a balance month to month — is a conventionalized financial usage that a B1 learner knowing only the literal meanings would not reliably infer. The metaphorical extension of 'revolving' to mean 'carry over/renew credit' is partially predictable but requires domain knowledge, so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Revolving charge account comes from the image of something that keeps turning: revolving like a wheel and charge account as a place where you put purchases to pay later. So you can 'carry a balance' and not pay the full amount each month, because the debt keeps moving 'month to month'.