The eurozone banks can take a total of 489 billion euros (643 billion U.S. dollars) from the European Central Bank (ECB) via its first ever offering of 3-year funding, the ECB said on Wednesday. [File photo]

European Central Bank (ECB) had awarded 489 billion euros ($637 billion) in three-year loans to banks, the ECB said Wednesday.

It is the biggest ECB injection of credit into the banking system in the euro's 13-year history.

A total of 523 banks have submitted their request for the funding, the ECB said in a statement.

The money will be lent at the average of the ECB’s benchmark rate -- currently 1 percent -- over the next three years.

The ECB is trying to ensure that eurozone banks have access to cheap cash for the medium term so that they can keep lending to companies and households.

ECB President Mario Draghi urged banks to make full use of ECB’s measures in order to step up the liquidity. He said earlier that the systematic risk was seriously hampering the functioning of the economy and the ECB saw no stigma attached to the use of central banking credit provisions.

To support bank lending and liquidity in the euro area money market, the ECB decided on Dec. 8 to conduct two longer-term refinancing operations (LTROs) with a maturity of 36 months and the option of early repayment after one year.

In addition to the longer-term loans, the ECB has widened the pool of collateral banks can use to secure the funds.

The euro fell against most of its major peers amid concern that ECB’s measures to support its banking sector won't be enough to arrest the EU's worsening sovereign-debt crisis, said Bloomberg.