The work presents a scientifically based approach to understanding the general theoretical foundations of bank credit as a legal institution, as well as the main theoretical issues of the essence of those legal phenomena that mediate the movement of funds from the lender to the borrower and back. The author proposes a solution to most controversial issues in the domestic theory and practice of bank lending through the provisions of the general theory of the law of obligations. Establishing as the central idea of the study the exclusive nature of the credit transaction, which determines the exclusive nature of the loan agreement and all other actions performed within the framework of such an agreement, the author reveals the essence of the main categories of the institution of bank credit through approaches different from those developed by modern legal science and judicial practice .