A policy loan isn't the only way to put cash value to work. There's a second door: go to a bank, pledge the policy itself as collateral, and borrow the bank's money instead of the carrier's. The paperwork that makes this happen is called a collateral assignment, and at most banks it's a standard, well-worn process.
Here's how it works. You apply for a loan or a line of credit at a bank. Instead of pledging a house or a car, you pledge your policy's cash value. The carrier records the assignment, which gives the bank first claim on the policy's value up to what you owe. Banks tend to like this collateral, because guaranteed cash value doesn't have bad quarters like a stock portfolio and doesn't need an appraisal like a building. If the borrower defaults, the bank's recovery is sitting right there in the contract.
Why bother, when the carrier will lend against the same value with less paperwork? Rate, sometimes. A local bank competing for your business may beat the policy loan rate. Structure, sometimes. Banks offer lines of credit and payment schedules that suit some borrowers better. And under a collateral assignment you haven't actually borrowed from the policy at all, so the full cash value keeps compounding and keeps earning whatever dividends the carrier declares, though dividends are never guaranteed.
The trade-offs are real, so here's the other side. A bank loan means underwriting, and a bank can say no, where a carrier can't refuse a policy loan against available cash value. Bank lines can be frozen or called in ways a policy loan never is. A pledged policy isn't fully yours to borrow against or surrender until the assignment is released, which happens when the loan is repaid. And if you die while the loan is outstanding, the bank gets paid from the death benefit before your family does.
For most people the policy loan stays the simpler tool, and the growth mechanics behind all of it are covered on the How It Grows page. But knowing the bank door exists changes how you see the asset. It's collateral a lender respects. People running the cash-flow strategies over at Dynamic Banking sometimes use exactly this route to get a cheaper line, and the getting-started side of building the asset itself is at Build a Life LOC.