Define Discount House, Acceptance House, and Indigenous Financial Agencies.

Discount House.

Retail store that offers merchandise for sale at lower prices than conventional stores that sell merchandise at list prices or suggested retail prices also called discount store. Although most discount houses offer well known national brands, they can afford to sell at a reduced markup because they are generally a “no-frills” operation. They reduce overhead costs by offering merchandise on a self-service basis, by providing a minimum of decor, fixtures, and facilities, and sometimes by operating in a low-rent area.

The discount house may be a mass merchant, such as a specialty merchant. The warehouse retailer and the catalog store (that sells primarily from a catalog) are also considered variations of the discount house. Since the middle 1960s, discount house chains have accounted for more sales volume than all the conventional department stores combined.

Acceptance House.

It is an institution that accepts financial instruments and agrees to honor them should the borrower default. A banking institution in England specializing in financing foreign trade by allowing the use of its name as drawee on bills of exchange and by frequently acting also as fiscal agent and financial adviser (as for foreign nations or municipalities).

Indigenous Financial Agencies.

The indigenous financial agencies includes money lenders like village sahukars and indigenous bankers. Both provides financial assistance to the rural farmers, artisans, etc. by lending them the money at a huge rate of interest. The policy adopted by these lenders is flexible, informal and not uniform and vary from place to place.