Personal Loan as the name clearly indicates is the loan sanctioned to a person or an individual to meet his or her Personal immediate cash requirement. It is also known as ‘Signature Loan’. It is an unsecured loan because the lending authority or institution does not require any collateral security or mortgage. Personal Loans are granted on the basis of past payment or debt history, credit ratings, borrower’s income & repayment ability etc. though the credit rating is not at all mandatory. This is an informal method to raise funds as it involves lesser documentation and the sanctioning process is faster. Even borrowing from a friend or relative is also considered as obtaining personal loan.
Personal loan is preferred to settle old debts, purchase of consumables, festivals, holidays etc. The rate of interest is generally high.