Disconto

Disconto is a term used in finance to denote the discounting of a financial instrument before its maturity, so that the holder can obtain liquidity by selling the instrument at a price below its face value. In Portuguese, disconto is an older or less common variant of desconto, and it appears in historical texts, legal codes, and some banking literature. The central idea is that the instrument—such as a bill, promissory note, or other negotiable paper—has a known face value to be paid at a future date, while a bank or financial intermediary pays the holder a present value that is lower than that face value.

In practice, disconto can take several forms. Disconto comercial refers to the discounting of commercial papers or trade receivables, where a supplier receives cash before the due date by selling the receivable to a financial institution at a discount. Disconto bancário, or bank discount, describes the typical banking operation in which a bank purchases short-term financial documents at a price below face value, earning the discount as its return.

From a financial perspective, the discount represents compensation for the time value of money and risk until maturity. Present value is usually determined using a discount rate, reflecting time to maturity, credit risk, and current interest rates. The term disconto is less common in contemporary Portuguese usage, where desconto is the standard, but disconto remains encountered in historical contexts and some regional usages. Related concepts include true discount and banker's discount, which describe different methods of calculating the discount amount.