debit account

debit account (plural debit accounts)

1. (accounting) An account in which credits (money owed to the business) exceed debits (expenses).
   • 1891 May, Joseph Hardcastle, “Talks on Accounts”, in Business, volume 10:

     If the entries on the left hand exceed in amount the entries on the right hand, the account is a debit account or an asset, and its value is the excess.

2. (accounting) An account in which debits exceed credits.
   • 1916, Semi-annual Report of the International Institute of China, page 2:

     For two months past the Director has had personally to meet deficiencies in the working expenses of the Institute and so our semi-annual account stands with a few dollars to the debit account.

3. An account with a bank or store, in which the account holder deposits money that can later be drawn on to make purchases.

   Coordinate terms: (UK) credit account, (US) charge account

   • 2002, Bret Hartman, Donald J. Flinn, Konstantin Beznosov, Enterprise Security with EJB and CORBA, page 232:

     By choosing this option at the time of creating the account or later by upgrading the regular account to this option, a customer can open a debit account with the storefront and, after depositing some money, use this money to settle the account instead of providing and verifying credit card information on each purchase.

   • 2002, Tara McCarthy, Real Life Reading, page 56:

     You go to the bank and set up a debit account. You will get a debit account checkbook, and a debit card. You can use either one when you shop.

   • 2009, Nicolas P. Retsinas, Eric S. Belsky, Borrowing to Live: Consumer and Mortgage Credit Revisited, page 71:

     A debit account with “courtesy overdraft” would allow a consumer to exceed the available balance, but the consumer would be charged a fee (often $25 to $30) and required to remediate the overdraft quickly.

• “debit account”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “debit account” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “debit account”, in Collins English Dictionary.