Lender of last resort
The lender of last resort is an institution willing to extend credit when nobody else will.
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The wholesale lender of last resort
Originally the term referred to a reserve financial institution that secured other banks or eligible institutions, as a last resort. This is most often the central bank of a country. The purpose of this loan and lender is to prevent the collapse of institutions that are experiencing financial difficulty, most often near collapse.
The lender of last resort serves to protect depositors, widespread panic withdrawal, and otherwise prevent the damage to the economy caused by the collapse of the institution.
Borrowing from the lender of last resort by commercial banks is usually not done except in times of crisis. This is because borrowing from the lender of last resort indicates that the institution in question has taken on too much risk, or that the institution is experiencing financial difficult (since it is often only possible when the borrower is near collapse.)
The United States Federal Reserve serves as the lender of last resort to those institutions that cannot obtain credit elsewhere and the collapse of which would have serious implications on the economy. It took over this role from the private sector "clearing houses" which operated during the Free Banking Era; whether public or private the availability of liquidity was intended to prevent ’runs’ on the banking system.
Criticism of the institutionalized “lender of last resort”
Critics of this practice point to the ability of having a lender of last resort as a temptation for an institution to take on more risk. The reasoning is that a lender of last resort provides a safety net to insulate the institution from the full consequences of their risk (although the fresh loan will not be underwritten the consequences of business failure can be hidden for longer by credit extensions through a lender of last resort).
A more theoretical critique of the institution of a last resort lender is that its existence is predicated on the possibility of a “market failure”: if the credit market accurately assesses risks then institutions not able to receive loans would probably misuse the capital and the idea of a panic or ‘contagious’ credit crunch spreading through the banking system would be impossible.
A modern critique of the IMF as the international lender of last resort is that it is effectively an inefficient subsidy system, since it is mandated to provide loans to countries unable to raise funds through the bond market, with loans paying below market interest rates. Critics say that this has two deficiencies as a means of charity: Firstly, is confused the ability to repay with the economic reorganization demanded by the bank and other ethical considerations; and secondly, the fact that some countries actually do repay their loans, despite the hardship of paying and the reality that most developing nations are not expected to do so.
The retail lender of last resort
Alternatively, a lender of last resort is a bank, check cashing store or credit card operation which deals only with the highest-risk categories of private client. These retail banks charge very high rates of interest to cover the high credit risk they face (many loans are not repaid). They therefore only attract customers unable to secure credit elsewhere (literally lenders of last resort).
Occasionally, a criminal loan shark will be the lender of (very) last resort, offering loans at very high rates of interest (sometimes called “usury”). This maybe illegal in itself, or involve intimidation to ensure repayment.
These moneylenders are not the only lenders of last resort dealing with the public. In some cases, credit is available for the purchase of specific goods which would not be given for cash. Particularly in car financing, there are large companies specializing in the arrangement of credit for high risk individuals.