Microloans to the third world on the interwebs. Cool?

[Asher]

A couple friends of mine have been doing this now and speak highly of it: http://www.kiva.org/

You can loan small amounts of money to entrepreneurs in the developing nations. A bit of charity I guess.

My friend just donated $25 to a single mother running a drink stand in Nigeria...you're not guaranteed to get this money back (obviously), but usually you do which goes back into your Kiva account which you can then loan to other people...

[LordShiva]

Kiva

[Asher]

Do you use it?

[LordShiva]

Yeah, I loaned $25 to an Azeri grocery store and got it back. Looking for someone else to loan to now.

[Ecthy]

I'll PM you my bank account info LS

[LordShiva]

Please do

[Julian Delphiki]

This is actually great if it really works.

[Ecthy]

Asher will confirm to you that as a European I'm practically in the third world. Also, studying Political Science and History, my future is as meaningless and dim as most thirld worlders', so why would I not deserve a microloan? And of course, as he said, you'r enot guaranteed to get it back

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Asher will confirm to you that as a European I'm practically in the third world. Also, studying Political Science and History, my future is as meaningless and dim as most thirld worlders', so why would I not deserve a microloan? And of course, as he said, you'r enot guaranteed to get it back

Because you will never make the money back.

[Ecthy]

oh lol rofl he even topped teh joke

[Kidlicious]

Good for you Asher.

[Wezil]

How Kiva Works

Choose an Entrepreneur, Lend, Get Repaid

1) Lenders like you browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.

2) Kiva's microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur's chances of success.

3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.

4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

[Asher]

You heard of this before Wezil?

[Wittlich]

Although Kiva is nice when you want to assist people in 3rd world countries, you do not gain any interest on the money you lend.

On the flip side, I currently use Prosper (www.prosper.com) to lend money to folks in the US - mainly around the bay area. Last year I transferred $500.00 to my Prosper account, today I have $700.00 in loans currently out and I'm making around 16% interest.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Wittlich
Although Kiva is nice when you want to assist people in 3rd world countries, you do not gain any interest on the money you lend.

On the flip side, I currently use Prosper (www.prosper.com) to lend money to folks in the US - mainly around the bay area. Last year I transferred $500.00 to my Prosper account, today I have $700.00 in loans currently out and I'm making around 16% interest.

Do you have to qualify for those loans?

Kiva isn't to make profit. In fact, you might not get paid back. It's charity.