Interest that has been collected on a loan by a lending institution but has not yet been counted as income (or earnings). Instead, it is initially recorded as a liability. If the loan is paid off early, the unearned interest portion must be returned to the borrower. 


Also called "unearned discount". 




|||Unearned interest is an accounting method used by lending institutions to deal with long-term, fixed-income securities. Initially recorded as a liability, the unearned interest will eventually be recorded as income in the lending institution's books over the life of the loan as time passes and the interest is earned.