If so, just who are these creditors out there willing to offer loans for nothing?
In some ways, they act like banks: they take deposits, underwrite capital issues, manage portfolios and offer loans.
Fashion has swung towards banks with big balance sheets that can offer loans as a lure for investment-banking business.
ECONOMIST: Germany's biggest bank regroups to storm New York
It also allows them to offer loans at low interest rates or leases on attractive terms, perhaps packaged with insurance or maintenance.
Many qualified plans offer loans to participants, but these participants are allowed a certain period within which they must repay the loan with interest.
Despite the credit crunch, banks seemed content to offer loans to companies for buildings and equipment, even as they recoiled from lending to households.
Students can defer payments and states offer loans on easy terms.
Concern centres on China's informal lending or shadow banking market - rich individuals and businesses that offer loans at interest rates spanning from 14% to 70%.
Easy credit and a property boom have seen Ukraine's capital Kiev expand rapidly but the global downturn has seen investors and those willing to offer loans withdraw.
Not surprisingly, the banks, which have had no choice but to offer loans regardless of the financial background or earning potential of the borrower, are wriggling out of the scheme.
The business is lost because big banking groups can use their strong balance sheets to offer loans and other products requiring a top credit rating, along with the usual investment-banking services.
In June, the PBOC announced that banks will be allowed to offer loans at interest rates up to 20 percent below the benchmark rate and be free to pay savers a rate up to 10 percent above the ceiling rate.
The National Association of Realtors, which represents 1.3 million agents, this fall called for the Federal Reserve to tighten underwriting standards, which would make it harder for lenders to offer loans to borrowers who could not afford the higher payments that subprime loans often require down the road.
The Obama administration has expanded federal loan programs, which offer student loans at below-market rates.
Credit unions, which are regulated, generally operate in local areas and pool savings, allowing them to offer small loans to members.
The website ASmarterChoice.org can help you find a credit union to join, while cuStudentLoans.org and StudentChoice.org list some that offer student loans.
And since the banking system is still dominated by the government, the banks will not refuse to offer new loans, even if old loans sour.
Investors who offer jumbo loans give borrowers access to higher loan limits, but they also have tougher underwriting requirements and can cost more than conventional loans.
In January, Dr. Jacobs sat through a PowerPoint presentation by CapexMD aimed at convincing him to invest in the company and offer its loans to patients.
By 2005, foreign banks will be allowed to do commercial and retail business, and certain types of financial companies will immediately be able to offer car loans.
Meanwhile, credit unions continue to push for Congress to approve an increase of their caps on commercial loan portfolios in order to offer more loans to local businesses.
FORBES: Will banks' shifting portfolio mixes mean easier borrowing for businesses?
Promisingly, the Chinese bank regulator announced draft rules in May to allow domestic and foreign institutions to set up consumer-finance firms to offer personal loans for consumer-goods purchases.
ECONOMIST: Can Asians replace Americans as a driver of global growth?
In contrast, government loans offer fixed interest rates and flexible options, such as income-based repayment and deferral for hardship or public service.
These loans may offer protection from rising interest rates, because unlike traditional bonds, the interest rate on these loans adjusts (usually every 90 days) based on changes in a benchmark rate (usually LIBOR).
FORBES: Are Floating Rate Funds The Wrong Answer To Rising Rates?
Last year the government started to offer guarantees for bank loans to small- and medium-sized companies.
Commercial banks used their huge balance sheets to offer cut-price loans to companies in return for securing investment-banking mandates.
He saw that Indonesia's growing ranks of affluent consumers wanted bankers that could offer everything from car loans to credit cards.
Some firms offer housing and other loans or other loans to executives.
Their branchless banking platform keeps costs low and allows BofI to leverage the Internet to offer competitive rates on loans and deposits.
应用推荐