Microfinance: April 2008 Archives

Last week, Muhammad Yunus - who is the pioneer of microfinance - was in NY.  He's starting up a branch of his bank, Grameen, in the US.  In fact, there have already been $350,000 loans disbursed.  Some of the borrowers include the Dominican community of Corona and a group from the Bangladeshi community in Woodside. 

Yunus also spent time with the media, such as CNBC.  Here are two video clips:

• Nobel Prize Winners & the Food Crisis
• Social Business

After lots of hard work, we launched KivaB4B last week in Philadelphia.  It's a joint initiative between Kiva - which is a non-profit organization that created the first peer-to-peer microfinance platform - and Advanta (through Advanta Bank Corp.), which is one of the nation's largest credit card issuers.

Here's how it works:  If you have a KivaB4B card, Advanta will match your grants to Kiva (up to $200 per month).  We like to say that it's "double the capital, double the impact."

In fact, we got quite a bit of interest from the blogosphere.  Here are some clips:

Startup BizCast, April 9, 2008
"Corporate Philanthropy" by Steve Mullen
Corporate Philanthropy is simply "good works" on a slightly larger scale. Instead of an individual volunteering time or money to a local nonprofit or helping a neighbor, it's the weight of an entire company moving toward the goal of helping the community. This week's guest on Startup BizCast is Ami Kassar of credit card company Advanta. He's the company's Chief Innovation Officer and also developed the KivaB4B program, which launches on April 15. It allows Advanta customers to donate money to entrepreneurs overseas who have a great idea, but not a great deal of money.
 
Small Biz Resource, April 10, 2008
"Entreprenuer Gives Back" by Gayle Keston
I haven't seen the numbers to confirm whether last night's "Idol Gives Back" show made the "googillions" that Ben Stiller hyped. But I do know about another charitable initiative set to launch next week that will enable entrepreneurs here at home to help budding businesses in third-world countries.
 
The Entrepreneurial Mind, April 15, 2008
"A Credit Card Offer Worth Considering" by Jeff Cornwall
I have written before about Kiva, "the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty."
 
Gift Hub, April 15, 2008
"KivaB4B Launches April 15" by Phil Cubeta
Kiva B4B launches today, April 15, in partnership with Advanta.  Advanta issues credit cards to business owners. They have put together a matching program for card holders who loan money through KIVA to small businesses in developing countries.
 
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, April 16, 2008
"Helping Small Businesses Give to Charity" by Nicole Wallace
Charity marketing deals with credit-card companies aren't new, but Advanta -- one of the largest credit-card issuers in the small-business market -- hopes that its new partnership with Kiva will help both the charity and Advanta's customers.
 
The Entrepreneurial Mind, April 16, 2008
"Kiva Business for Business Blog" by Jeff Cornwall
I blogged about the Kiva business for business credit card project with Avanta yesterday. Here is a link to the blog that they have created to chronicle some of the stories from this project and the on-line community of entrepreneurs they are helping to create.
 
Entrepreneur.com Daily Blog, April 16, 2008
"Kiva Makes Twice the Impact" by Kristin Edelhauser
Last October, we told you about the microlending site, Kiva.org. Now, the site--which helps developing-world entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams--has partnered up with Advanta to up the ante. It's called KivaB4B, and through it, customers can make small loans to Kiva entrepreneurs using Advanta business credit cards. Once a grant has been issued by an Advanta small-business customer, Advanta will match each grant dollar for dollar, capping at $200 per month, per account.
 
Cause Related Marketing, April 17, 2008
"Cause Related Marketing Meets Microfinance" by Paul Jones
You'd have had to have been in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia the last year or so to have missed the run up of microfinance. Between 2004 and 2006 more than $4 billion of capital flowed into microfinance institutions. All told experts say the total loan microfinance loan portfolio may be as much as $12.5 billion. And of course the father of microfinance, Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Microfinance is now so respectable, so effective, (so profitable!) that it's already enjoying its first global backlash.
 
901am Media News, April 17, 2008
"Advanta and Kiva launch KivaB4B Project to empower entrepreneurs in developing countries" by Dennis Bouchand
Advanta Corp. and Kiva have launched the KivaB4B Project, a joint initiative that encourages small business owners and entrepreneurs in the U.S. to support entrepreneurs in developing countries. Through the initiative, Advanta customers can make grants - using an Advanta business credit card - to Kiva for entrepreneurs of their choice, and Advanta will match each grant, dollar for dollar, up to $200 per month per account. That's double the capital, double the impact.
 
bizSugar, April 17, 2008
"Entrepreneur Gives Back" by John Holsen
With the tagline "Change the world...one business at a time," Kivab4b.org offers entrepreneurs and small businesses an easy way to participate in cause-related marketing.

Last week, I attended the Penn Microfinance Conference.

One of the presenters was Matt Flannery, who is the co-founder and CEO of Kiva, which is an online platform that facilitates microlending to the Third World.  In fact, he talked about the humble beginnings of Kiva.

The idea got its start back in late 2004.  Matt and his wife - Jessica - took a three-month trip to East Africa.  While she wanted to get involved in microfinance, Matt was more interested in putting together a tech startup.

So why not compromise and combine the two things? 

At first, Kiva was mostly a side project, as Matt coded the platform while he was a programmer at Tivo.  But seeing the huge potential, he decided to devote his full-time efforts to Kiva.

By March, there were seven loans on Kiva (for a total of $3,500).  Within six months, the first loan was paid off.

Despite this, there was much skepticism.  "We visited VCs, but they weren't interested," said Matt.  "The feeling was that it would not scale and was perhaps even illegal."

Well, Matt talked to some lawyers and even the SEC.  From what he could tell, he was OK on the legal front.

But, would people be interested?

That's where the power of the media made its impact.  At first, there were a variety of bloggers that promoted Kiva.  Next, the site got a profile on PBS's Frontline.  And then, the mighty Oprah highlighted Kiva.

"It was publicity that funded our efforts," said Matt. 

Right now, there are more than 250,000 lenders on the site.  What's more, Kiva is still thinking big; that is, over the next five years, it wants to fund $1 billion in loans and attract ten million lenders.

For the most part, microfinance is a recent phenomenon, getting its start in the mid 1970s.  The pioneer of this movement is Muhammad Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

His belief is that extending credit - in even small amounts - can have a big impact on dealing with poverty.  The loans help to finance such things as supplies and equipment.  The amounts typically range from $25 to $300 or so.

To deal with the risk of non-payment of loans, microfinance relies on some key requirements.  First, the loans are made to small groups (say four or five people).  This helps to create peer pressure.  After all, if there is a default, the whole group is responsible.

Next, the loans are typically for women, who tend to use the loans for the intended purposes.

What's more, loans are paid off in small increments - not lump sums.  This makes the loan process much more manageable for borrowers.

So, how large is the microfinance market?  According to the World Bank, there are more than 7,000 microlending institutions.