Financial literacy is a big problem for today's students, but also people of other ages. This causes major problems when contracting loans, which is nowadays commonplace. Therefore, it is important to be familiar with the basic terms and terminology used when contracting a loan. The paper describes the development of banks and the banking system in the Republic of Croatia, which is an extremely complex and complex process due to the constant advancement in technology and knowledge. Globalization and computerization are additional drivers of bank development, making the system more accessible and convenient and, in certain conditions, simpler. This paper deals with the basic divisions of loans into special and non-purpose loans. Special Purpose Loans are loans that are approved only for a specific purpose, such as car loans, home loans, tourism loans, etc., whereas for non-purpose loans, cash is paid into a current account and used for the individual needs of the loan beneficiary. Some of the non-purpose loans are: cash loans, mortgages, Lombard loans and others. Each bank in the Republic of Croatia has separately stipulated conditions for granting loans, which must be in accordance with the regulations of the Croatian National Bank, and therefore contracting a loan is sometimes not an easy job. The paper deals with the conditions for granting cash loans, such as the interest rate, the currency of the loan, the loan amount, the loan repayment period and the loan repayment guarantee based on the offers of Croatian banks.