Strip away the paperwork and a loan is the oldest deal in commerce: someone with money lends it to someone who needs it and gets it back later with something extra for the wait. So what is a loan in modern terms? A sum borrowed from a bank or a regulated non-banking lender, repaid over an agreed period with interest, under a written contract that protects both sides. India's market offers many kinds, from personal loans to home loans to the gold loans that lenders such as IIFL Finance provide against household jewellery. This guide explains the types, the secured-unsecured divide, the life of a loan from application to closure, what lenders check, and why the gold loan stands apart from the rest.

The school fee falls due on the 3rd; the salary arrives on the 7th. Multiply that small mismatch by a medical bill or a festival, and you have the gap an entire lending category exists to bridge. A salary loan is an unsecured personal loan advanced against the strength of a borrower's monthly salary, sized to income, repaid in EMIs, and processed on payslips and bank statements. It works well for the formally employed. It works less well for everyone else, which is where secured alternatives such as the Gold Loan from lenders like IIFL Finance enter the comparison. This guide covers what a salary loan is, who qualifies, the paperwork, and an honest side-by-side with the gold-backed route.

The gold is already at the lender's branch, the loan is running smoothly, and then the need grows: the shop renovation costs more than planned, or a second expense lands mid-tenure. Borrowing again from scratch feels like starting over. A top up loan exists for exactly this moment: additional funds advanced on an existing loan, using the security and relationship already in place, without a fresh pledge or a new file built from zero. Gold loans suit the structure particularly well, since rising gold values often create fresh borrowing headroom on the same jewellery, and lenders such as IIFL Finance extend top-ups on this basis. This guide covers the meaning, eligibility, the process, and how a top-up truly differs from a fresh loan.

Take the same loan twice, once over two years and once over five, and you get two different loans: the short one demands heavy EMIs but costs less overall, the long one sits lightly each month while quietly collecting more interest. That trade is the whole subject. Loan tenure is the period over which a loan is repaid, and choosing it is the single decision that most shapes both your monthly burden and your total cost. It matters on every product, from home loans measured in decades to the flexible short tenures of a Gold Loan from lenders such as IIFL Finance. This guide defines tenure, unpacks what it does to EMI and interest, and ends with a practical method for choosing yours.

Ninety days. That is the line, and everything about the term follows from it: a loan becomes an NPA, a Non-Performing Asset, when its repayment stays overdue past 90 days, at which point the lender must reclassify it under RBI norms and the borrower's troubles begin compounding. The rule applies across lending, and gold loans are no exception, though they come with clearer warnings and better exits than most. Understanding the classification ladder, the consequences, and the practical steps that keep an account regular, steps lenders such as IIFL Finance actively support through reminders and flexible schemes, is the cheapest financial protection a borrower can own. This guide covers all of it, in the order trouble arrives.

The rbi gold loan circular - full summary for borrowers explains the key changes introduced under the Reserve Bank of India’s revised Directions on lending against eligible gold collateral.

A Key Fact Statement, or KFS, is a standard loan summary that a lender provides before a gold loan agreement is executed.

The RBI uniform gold loan rules for banks and NBFCs introduce a harmonised regulatory framework for loans secured against eligible gold jewellery across regulated banks and eligible NBFCs, effective from 1 April 2026.

Silver loan banks India now include public sector banks, private sector banks and eligible Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) under the banking regulator’s unified framework for loans against precious metals. Borrowers can pledge eligible silver ornaments and specified silver coins, subject to prescribed purity standards, collateral limits, applicable loan-to-value (LTV) norms and each lender’s internal policies.

Many borrowers assume that every loan requires a high credit score for approval. A silver loan CIBIL requirement works differently because a silver loan is a secured credit facility backed by eligible silver collateral. Instead of relying primarily on the borrower’s credit history, lenders generally assess the purity, net weight and assessed value of the pledged silver, along with applicable documentation and KYC requirements. Borrowers with a low credit score, a limited credit history or even no previous borrowing record may therefore be eligible, subject to lender evaluation and regulatory requirements.