Become a Micro Banker

Quote from futures_shark:

from the FAQ:


I applaud these people for trying to do something very positive. But I don't believe this model is sustainable. Everyone makes money in the deal except for the person lending the money. You are not a micro banker if you are giving out money for free.
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i disagree for a couple reasons.

first is that the people are carefully screened who receive the loans. it doesn't guarantee 100% you will get repaid but it appears that a very high majority of the loans are repaid and re-lent. that original loan can then be re-invested or loaned again to another individual so your $$$ can go alot further than just donating an amount you will never see again. technically you could reloan that cash for a lifetime so long as it gets repaid every time. for people that dont have alot to donate its very attractive proposition in my opinion.

second its very personal. i think alot of people appreciate the intimate relationship with the actual recipient. i for one would rather help a person in such a manner rather than blindly giving a lump sum of cash to some organization like the red cross for example not knowing if any of my donation actually ever did any one any good.

third i dont think alot of people look to these types of charity as some sort of investment and are expecting some sort of return. i agree kiva may or may not technically be a microbank but i dont get the feeling supporters are in it for some sort of financial gain.

i think this is actually charity done right if you ask me and will be around for a very long time.
 
Quote from romik:

I think some people will abuse this, I know mentality of people in the ex USSR, not all are bad of course, but I can see quite a few trying to scam this.
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Scam this? Because no interest is paid for the loan there is no actual business relation between two parties here. This is basically give away money and not a loan.
 
they call it a loan on the site, a loan does not necessarily has to include interest repayment, it can be interest free. I was making a comment on people's attitudes towards having to pay back the loan if/when they can afford to pay it back.
 
Quote from romik:

they call it a loan on the site, a loan does not necessarily has to include interest repayment, it can be interest free. I was making a comment on people's attitudes towards having to pay back the loan if/when they can afford to pay it back.
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So what is your interest as a lender to loan your money for free?
 
Quote from gkishot:

Scam this? Because no interest is paid for the loan there is no actual business relation between two parties here. This is basically give away money and not a loan.
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so far there is a 100% payback rate at kiva.org. you are not giving away money, you are loaning, expecting it to be paid back, albeit without interest. who cares about interest on the tiny amounts of money that will change some peoples lives. there is a much bigger picture at work here.

surfer
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

so far there is a 100% payback rate at kiva.org. you are not giving away money, you are loaning, expecting it to be paid back, albeit without interest.

surfer
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Right, but how can I make a living out of it? As banks do.
This model is good as charity but not as banking model. Because basically I don't care for this money for my living and I don't care it it won't get paid back.
 
Quote from ER9:

i disagree for a couple reasons.

first is that the people are carefully screened who receive the loans. it doesn't guarantee 100% you will get repaid but it appears that a very high majority of the loans are repaid and re-lent. that original loan can then be re-invested or loaned again to another individual so your $$$ can go alot further than just donating an amount you will never see again. technically you could reloan that cash for a lifetime so long as it gets repaid every time. for people that dont have alot to donate its very attractive proposition in my opinion.

second its very personal. i think alot of people appreciate the intimate relationship with the actual recipient. i for one would rather help a person in such a manner rather than blindly giving a lump sum of cash to some organization like the red cross for example not knowing if any of my donation actually ever did any one any good.

third i dont think alot of people look to these types of charity as some sort of investment and are expecting some sort of return. i agree kiva may or may not technically be a microbank but i dont get the feeling supporters are in it for some sort of financial gain.

i think this is actually charity done right if you ask me and will be around for a very long time.
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Actually I agree with everything you say. Maybe I should have used a different choice of words than "sustainable".

For the lender it is charity, but for the middle men, it seems to be a profit seeking venture. My point is that interest is being charged but none of it is going to the lender. If some portion of it goes back to the lender then they could choose to re-"loan" the total received so that their charity increases over time. I just think it would work better as giving out a low interest loan than a free gift of money.

Overall, I think it's fantastic. If the idea continues to evolve I think it could do more to reduce global poverty than any government ever could.
 
Quote from gkishot:

So what is your interest as a lender to loan your money for free?
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help the ones in need with your "spare" money, as I said this is another type of charity. I don't agree with thread title basically.
 
Quote from futures_shark:

Actually I agree with everything you say. Maybe I should have used a different choice of words than "sustainable".

For the lender it is charity, but for the middle men, it seems to be a profit seeking venture. My point is that interest is being charged but none of it is going to the lender. If some portion of it goes back to the lender then they could choose to re-"loan" the total received so that their charity increases over time. I just think it would work better as giving out a low interest loan than a free gift of money.

Overall, I think it's fantastic. If the idea continues to evolve I think it could do more to reduce global poverty than any government ever could.
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suppose you have a point i didnt even think of the middlemen to be honest.
 
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