Loan
A loan is a type of debt which is of annuity type if the amount paid periodically is fixed. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower. A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of the loan. A loan can be obtained against home, education, car, debt and many other reasons where a person fail short to fulfill the financial requirement at one condition.
However, there are various types of loans which are mainly categorized as secured and unsecured loans. A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan. A mortgage loan is a very common type of debt instrument, used by many individuals to purchase housing. In some instances, a loan taken out to purchase a new or used car may be secured by the car. There are two types of auto loans, direct and indirect. A stock hedge loan is a special type of securities lending whereby the stock of a borrower is hedged by the lender against loss, using options or other hedging strategies to reduce lender risk. A pre-settlement loan is a non-recourse debt.
Unsecured loans are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrower's assets. These may be available from financial institutions under many different marketing packages such as credit card debt, personal loans, bank overdrafts, corporate bonds etc. The interest rates applicable to these different forms may vary depending on the lender and the borrower.
There are many banks or private institutions that provide loans for different purposes with different interest rates structure. You can even get online information about such financial resources. But before taking any types of loans, read the offered documents carefully as the terms may differ from lender to lender.