: an interest rate formally announced by a bank as the lowest normally available at a particular time to its most creditworthy customers
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Banking.
the minimum interest rate charged by a commercial bank on short-term business loans to large, best-rated customers or corporations. Also called prime, prime interest rate, prime lending rate.
[1955-60]
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prime rate or prime lending rate noun
The lowest rate of interest charged by a bank at any given time, usu available only to large concerns with high credit ratings, forming the base figure on which other rates are calculated
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Main Entry: ↑prime
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the lowest rate available for borrowing money
Thesaurus: relating to borrowing money and owing moneyhyponym
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prime rate,
the lowest rate of interest charged by banks to large commercial customers with very high credit ratings: »
Rates for all other customers are scaled upward from the prime rate (Wall Street Journal).
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n. the lowest rate of interest at which money may be borrowed commercially
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noun, pl ⋯ rates [count]
: the lowest interest rate that banks will give to people who borrow money from them — called also prime, prime interest rate
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(in the US) the lowest rate of interest at which business customers can borrow money from banks
Useful english dictionary. 2012.