21 Do I get interest on my loan?
No. Kiva.org’s loans do not provide a financial return on investment.
22 Does Kiva.org charge interest?
Currently Kiva.org does not charge interest to our Field Partners, however we will begin charging a small (approximately 2%) fee to our Field Partners in 2007. This fee will contribute towards Kiva.org's operating costs while still allowing our Field Partners significant savings to their cost of debt capital.
23 Do Kiva.org’s Field Partners charge interest to the entrepreneurs?
Yes. Self-sustainability is critical to creating long-term solutions to poverty and charging interest to entrepreneurs is necessary for microfinance institutions to achieve this. Our Field Partners are free to charge interest, but Kiva.org will not partner with an organization that charges exorbitant interest rates. Kiva.org also requires Field Partners to fully disclose their interest rates.
Microfinance is an expensive business, which is essentially the reason small loans are not provided by large banks. While Kiva.org’s Field Partners do not bear the cost of capital or the cost of default, they do bear transaction costs and currency risk. Charging interest to entrepreneurs enables our Field Partners to bear these costs and achieve self-sustainability.