Kiva: Spreading Money Around
September 14th, 2007Kiva has been a remarkable success story and one which could really change the way we spread our hard earned around. Charity has always been a core value for humanity as a way of expressing gratitude for what we have and compassion for those who don’t.
But Kiva is not a charity it is a lending organisation with a difference: they don’t charge interest on their loans. So in effect you are donating money but you get it back!
This changes the dynamic from charity to help. I love this approach. I made a deposit of $1000 about 6 months ago and lent money to 15 different people all over the world and so far 2 loans have fully repaid whilst the total amount lent is $1075 and repaid $595 (you only get fully repaid when whole loan is paid up).
What is exciting is helping out so many people but as help rather than charity. There is no interest, which as you know from previous posts is the cause of all human suffering.
I am also keen to see how far that $1000 can go because as soon as loans are fully repaid you can lend out again.
Try it out….its a great experience.
Tags: credit, debt, gratitude, helping, interest free banking, kiva, microfinance, money, p2p