Personal Loans can be secured or unsecured. A secured personal loan is a loan that requires some type of agreement as a condition of borrowing. For example, you can get a personal loan with cash, like a savings account or a certificate of deposit (CD), or with a physical asset, like your car or boat. If you can't repay the loan, the lender can keep your lien to pay off the loan. Unsecured personal loans do not require any approval to borrow money. Banks, credit unions, and online lenders can offer secured and unsecured loans to qualified borrowers. Banks generally consider the latter more dangerous than the former because there is no collateral to collect. This can mean paying higher interest rates for personal loans.