Banks make money when borrowers repay their loans regularly.  Therefore, when you apply for a loan, they look at your ability to repay.  They assess whether you are a good client by looking at your income and credit score (hence, did you pay other loans in the past?).  Banks follow similar standards but they may have different amounts of money available to lend, and obviously different interest rates, charges, etc.  So shop around before you decide which loan to go for.  ĠEMMA recommends that you use the MFSA Financial Product Comparator.  You can access this from https://gemma.gov.mt/mfsa-product-comparison/.