zero-balancehttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-balance_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezero balance, adj.
Revised 2018

zero balanceadjective

Banking.
  1. 1974–
    (Of a bank account) operated with no continuing balance, funds being transferred to it only to the extent required to meet the withdrawals made.
    1. 1974
      With a Zero Balance account, a customer will pay a small charge for actual activity.
      U.S. Investor/Eastern Banker 26 August 42/2
    2. 1983
      A controlled disbursement account is a type that bankers call a ‘zero balance account’—it contains no cash at the end of the day after all checks have been paid. There are no funds left idle.
      Fortune 18 April 76/2
    3. 1996
      We will open a zero balance account on the right basis.
      Financial Times 19 June (Private Banking section) 3/2

Originally published as part of the entry for zero, n. & adj.

zero, n. & adj. was revised in June 2018.