Fastlane Team @ Kiva.org

[Analyzer]

EDIT: For those having difficulties joining the team you can find it @ http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=1586 after joining Kiva

Hey, hope this is not considered spam.

I've been a huge fan of Kiva.org for a while now and just felt it's a perfect match with our community, so I decided to start a fastlane group there:

http://www.kiva.org/team/fastlane

For those of you that don't know it Kiva.org is a place where you can make loans to entrepenours in third world countries (mainly Africa, South America and Asia).

I love it because inteasd of giving out some money or food you have a chance to help someone build their biz. This means three things to me:

(1) your money is not used only once, after it's repayed you can loan it again and
again (deliquency rates are low), meaning you can help many more people

(2) you're helping the right people, the ones that are willing to work hard and have a stake at risk in the future of their communities/countries

(3) the business the people develop will have spill over effects in their communities, they will hire workers, spend money, etc.

take a look at their site if you're not a member yet or join the team if you're already registered.

more info on how it works @ Kiva - What Is Kiva?

 

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[kwerner]

So I went on to Kiva to check my account today and to be honest, I'm pretty disgusted.

I noticed something on there I've never seen before... a bunch of people from the USA asking for loans. WTF??

I though the mission of Kiva was to "alleviate poverty", helping entrepreneurs in poor & undeveloped countries; to give them a chance at a better life for them and their family.

Not helping some guy in the US pay for his franchise license
or paying for this lady's website development
or paying for this dude's Google Adwords campaigns
or paying for this guy to re-design his social network website.

None of these scammers are in poverty and have no business asking for loans on Kiva, IMO.

This totally hurts Kiva's credibility.

[/end rant]

 

[Nick]

Good thing you decide who to loan the money to, so it is up to you and me to allocate the money the best way possible.

That is not true. All the money are pooled together and collected and distributed by kiva and their partners how they see fit. You do not personally help any specific entrepreneur (although it is made to look like that in order to make you feel good). All projects that appear on the website have already been financed by kiva, and they just try to reimburse their money and mitigate the risk from you.

All kiva does is lend money to people in 3rd countries money at a very high rate interest of 83% annually (yes, 83% , that is not a mistake)- and have their loans backed by you at no risk to them, while paying you a small percentage of the % interest they collect. (The rest goes to them ).

This is how the process works, according to their website

1.The borrower meets with the Field Partner and requests a loan.
2.The Field Partner disburses a loan to the borrower.
3. The Field Partner uploads the loan request to Kiva, it's reviewed by a team of volunteer editors and translators and then published on Kiva.org

The 3rd step is the story you are being fed. The transaction already happened. Pictures and stories are for the suckers in civilized countries.

Kiva is making some bankers very rich, while some suckers are feeding them.

Read more

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/world/14microfinance.html?pagewanted=all

 

[Nick]

I almost believed what you were saying but then you said this:

And you lost me. I do NOT get any % interest at all.

Maybe you do not get any, but the borrower pays a very high interest rate, and you can not ignore that.

Yes, the 83% percent annually interest is not the standard - was just an example of how much their partners actually do charge - but according to kiva the average is 36%.

When you lend money at 36% annual interest, are we talking about philanthropy anymore, or are talking about shark loans?

You decide, it's your money, but at least think about it. My statements are true, and can easily be verified even on kiva website:

1. The money are lent by kiva and partners before posting the story online, and you do not have any effect on who gets money and who does not (the story on the website is just a narrative with no effect on the lending process).

2. The money are lent at very high interest rate- annual average of 36%. In case it fails, you take all the risk. In case it succeeds, you get your money back, other people get the interest.

If you are comfortable still lending when knowing this, good for you, i just wanted to point this out for all those who may not know this or who think that they are helping exactly the entrepreneurs on the website they lend to at no interest rate.

 

[StompingAcorns]

I funded my first loans today (below). There no longer seems to be a rating system, e.g., A, B, C. But there are a number of stats to help you select your risk level. Also there is a matching program through 12/31 for select loans, FYI.

BEWARE that they automatically add a $15 donation to Kiva upon checkout. You have to manually go back and zero it out if you don't want to donate. This is a terrible practice and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I also despise the usury rates in these countries. However, I can't control that; and I still made the loans.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/998838
http://www.kiva.org/lend/985086
http://www.kiva.org/lend/999461
http://www.kiva.org/lend/991686

 

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[yveskleinsky]

I love this idea! ++rep

Micro-lending in third-world areas actually have a higher repayment rate (in the upper 90%) compared to lending here in the States, not to mention how beneficial small enterprise can be for these areas.

Thanks for bringing this up.

 

[andviv]

I just sent my request to join.

 

[Analyzer]

I just sent my request to join.

Just accepted the request

 

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[Analyzer]

I love this idea! ++rep

Micro-lending in third-world areas actually have a higher repayment rate (in the upper 90%) compared to lending here in the States, not to mention how beneficial small enterprise can be for these areas.

Thanks for bringing this up.

Thanks

right now delinquency rate at Kiva is 3.67% and the default rate is 1.41%

 

[Luke12321]

Limit to how much you loan?

 

[Justin]

Do you earn interest or just lend to help out others?

 

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[Luke12321]

On the the site, if I am not mistaken...it says the average loan yielded 5.5%.

 

[andviv]

well, Analyzer, it seems it is only you and me in the group... who else is joining us?

 

[andviv]

too bad that nobody else has joined the group so far. Maybe this type of charity and help provided is not in alignment with the members here.

 

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[Jill]

too bad that nobody else has joined the group so far. Maybe this type of charity and help provided is not in alignment with the members here.

Well, it's not for a lack of trying! I followed all three links in the messages above but couldn't find the "sign up" button. I'll be the first to admit it's probably my own blindness / ignorance. But I think this is a neat idea!

 

[CactusWren]

I also just tried. I got all my personal info in and then when I said "fastlane" it said a team with that name already existed, so no go...

 

[andviv]

do you have a login in kiva.org?

go to this page:

Kiva - Loans that change lives

click on the REQUEST TO JOIN button (for the one with the lambo icon, just in case there are new teams with the "fastlane" word in them).

this will take you to the Register or Login page. Once you log in the system should send a request to the creator of the team (Analyzer) and he should approve you guys.

I'm glad others want to join.

 

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[kimberland]

I requested to join!

I think this is a GREAT idea.

 

[AroundTheWorld]

I'm in. Thanks for setting this up!

 

[andviv]

cool, I see the team now has 4 members...
so, who are we going to lend to?

I propose this group of women working on growing their businesses:
Kiva - LAS PUNTUALES Group

 

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[Qjet50]

I sent in my request to join. Great idea. Thanks.

 

[Analyzer]

Hi,

Just accepted all pending requests and did the first loan for the team

Not sure why some people are having trouble joining/finding the team, post here your questions and someone should be able to help.

You can find the team page @ Kiva - Kiva Lending Team: Fastlane

 

[PAshortie]

Thanks...just sent you my request.

 

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[Analyzer]

Thanks...just sent you my request.

Accepted

 

[Charmed Angel]

Hi,

Just accepted all pending requests and did the first loan for the team

How's all this going for you all?

 

[WinWin]

Just sent a request.

 

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[CactusWren]

Just found the thread again and sent in my request.

 

[Analyzer]

Just accepted all requests and placed a new loan for the group.

Team stats
9 members
4 loans
$100 loaned

You can check teams rankings at Kiva - Community

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Finally joined, I love this idea!!

 

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[Analyzer]

Finally joined, I love this idea!!

welcome