The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Cornbread OMalley on October 25, 2016, 02:24:41 PM
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Some friends of mine are soliciting me to loan them money using this company called Kiva. Honestly, I am probably just going to gift my friends some money and not ask for repayment. But I'm curious if anybody here has loaned through Kiva or know of anything about this company. A gander on the Kiva page and they look like they trying to do good. I would appreciate some examples of experiences with Kiva.
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Paypal just did a 100% match offer for $25. You loan out $25, they give you another $25 to loan. Theoretically, if you get your loans repaid, you double your money.
I saw lots of microloan stuff in foreign countries to do stuff like buy seed to launch a farming business, buy fabric for a clothing store, etc. I was able to find an American business looking to start up, but those are rare.
Cons include: You don't make any interest on the loans. Some of the loans are never repaid. They work hard on their site to get donations, increase your loan with a gift, or re-loaning the money you get back.
At best, I think it's something you do as a charitable gift/writeoff. I'd assume there's a fair chance you'll never see the money again. My loan was for 24 months, we'll see how it does.
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I've made 5 or 6 loans through Kiva, all $25 with a $5 donation to cover administrative costs. I've actually got $24.95 waiting to be reloaned (currency exchange loss) in my Kiva account right now that I need to loan back out.
I have only loaned in developing or war-torn countries and I loan almost exclusively to women (convinced to do this by the book Half the Sky). The loans are administered by local micro-loan NGO type groups and you can see their ratings and pay back rates. And you can read the pitches and you get a report every time you get a repayment. I've never lost money on it except through currency exchange loss.
I support sustainable microlending as part of my charitable giving. It's not an economic investment for me, but I consider it an investment in supporting the unbanked in their efforts to move up in life and give a better life for their kids.
I actually first learned about Kiva through the vlogbrothers from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqUEcy6XRus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqUEcy6XRus)
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I've made 5 or 6 loans through Kiva, all $25 with a $5 donation to cover administrative costs. I've actually got $24.95 waiting to be reloaned (currency exchange loss) in my Kiva account right now that I need to loan back out.
I have only loaned in developing or war-torn countries and I loan almost exclusively to women (convinced to do this by the book Half the Sky). The loans are administered by local micro-loan NGO type groups and you can see their ratings and pay back rates. And you can read the pitches and you get a report every time you get a repayment. I've never lost money on it except through currency exchange loss.
I support sustainable microlending as part of my charitable giving. It's not an economic investment for me, but I consider it an investment in supporting the unbanked in their efforts to move up in life and give a better life for their kids.
I actually first learned about Kiva through the vlogbrothers from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqUEcy6XRus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqUEcy6XRus)
^^ Great stuff, thanks for sharing!
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A friend gave us around $100 of Kiva credit for a wedding gift. That was a few years ago. In that time we've loaned it out (in $25 chunks) and been repaid dozens of times. I don't think a single borrower has defaulted on us yet. It's kind of cool to see the things people are trying to do to make a better life for themselves, and how little capital these plans actually require.
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Thanks for the info, everyone! Looks like a Kiva loan is a loan that keeps on loaning.
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How do you loan through Kiva to a friend?
Our only experience with Kiva so far has been lending about $3,000 to meet minimum spending on a credit card when we didn't have options for manufactured spending. Will see when it wraps up what the losses are like.
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How do you loan through Kiva to a friend?
I have no idea. I'll email my friends and ask them.
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Chiming in to recommend Kiva. I support artisans like wodcarvers, jewellers, and textile designers in developing countries (mostly Asia and Latin America), and 90%+ have paid back. Like others, I looked on it as a charitable donation, and just keep relending as the $ comes back in.
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Yes... I too thought Kiva was for micro loans in developing countries.
Your friends in 1st world countries have access to Lending club or even Go Fund Me....
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Well, my friend says she already has the money! That was fast! She asked for a loan of $7K for some farm equipment and as of today got the full amount via PayPal.
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So I saw that your friend already got the money which is awesome! Kiva started as lending to low income countries but they recently(within the last couple years) started loaning to small business owners who would have trouble getting traditional loans from a bank. For example many banks have a minimum amount for a business loan that is much more than that specific business needs. I have been lending to other countries with kiva for around 8 or 9 years now. Not one of my loans has defaulted. One did get refunded to me within a couple weeks because the lending agency realized that the person was not doing what they were supposed to but I lost no money in the transaction. The same $50 I put in as a poor college student is still being lended out!