extend credit to

Idioms  

1. Also, extend someone credit. Allow a purchase on credit; also, permit someone to owe money. For example, The store is closing your charge account; they won't extend credit to you any more, or The normal procedure is to extend you credit for three months, and after that we charge interest. This idiom uses the verb extend in the sense of “offer” or “provide,” a usage dating from the mid-1500s.

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Example Sentences

While banks have grown more complex alongside the financial system, at their core they extend credit to businesses and households using deposit-funded balance sheets.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026

However, becoming a bank means it will be able to extend credit to customers via credit cards, overdrafts and mortgages.

From BBC • Oct. 14, 2024

Mainstream banks have been happy to welcome SVB’s deposits, but few may have the appetite to extend credit to businesses that don’t have self-sustaining revenues, says Mark Mason, CEO of Seattle-based HomeStreet Bank.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 17, 2023

“Because if you’re a supplier and you hear that, you’re no longer going to extend credit to Bath Bath & Beyond — you’re going to insist on cash on delivery.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 16, 2023

Banks, more confident about measuring risk, now extend credit to low- income families, so that owning a home or driving a new car is no longer evidence that someone is middle class.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times