Commercial banks extend credit to large corporations either to fund investment projects with positive net present values (NPV), or to indirectly facilitate credit access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) via the expansion of corporate trade credit. This article has a twofold objective: first, to provide empirical evidence demonstrating how time deposits influence the supply of large-scale corporate lending; and second, to examine whether this lending volume varies based on specific bank characteristics. To address potential selection bias, we employ a Heckman sample selection model. This framework accounts for the unobserved decision-making mechanisms banks utilize when determining whether to extend credit to large firms—either for direct corporate financing or for the redistribution of liquidity to SMEs through trade credit channels. Our empirical analysis utilizes a panel dataset of US commercial banks sourced from the Federal Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Statistics on Depository Institutions (SDI) reports spanning the period from 2012 to 2021. The empirical findings reveal a statistically significant, positive relationship between time deposit volumes and large-scale bank lending. This suggests that a higher composition of long-term liabilities enhances a bank's structural flexibility. Consequently, robust liability management enables financial institutions to aggressively expand their asset portfolios by issuing time deposits to secure necessary funding on demand.