Discount Window
Also called: lender of last resort, emergency lending facility
The discount window is the central bank's direct lending facility for banks that need cash against collateral — the lender of last resort in practice. Its problem is stigma: borrowing signals distress, so banks avoid it precisely when the system most needs them to use it. Post-2023 reforms in several countries focused on pre-positioning collateral and normalising use to defuse exactly that reflex.