A rechargeable battery. The rechargeable battery is constructed with a bare cell, a protective circuit board electrically connected to the bare cell, a lead plate located between the bare cell and theprotective circuit board, and a combining case covering an upper end of the bare cell, the protective circuit board and the lead plate. The lead plate is constructed with a first plate electrically connected to the protective circuit board, a second plate electrically connected to the bare cell, and an inside bending part connected between the first plate and the second plate. The first plate ofthe lead plate is bent around the inside bending part at 180 degrees such that the bare cell is coupled with the protective circuit board in parallel. Therefore, a distance between the bare cell and the protective circuit is reduced, and the capacity per volume of the rechargeable battery is increased.