Based on the screen grabs @sme did yesterday, we could see that there were some very interesting details available for those who dig deeper.
Basically Kiva.org gives a very limited amount of information to lenders who just want to quickly make a few clicks and be done.
To more discerning lenders there is plenty of information to do your shopping around on.
For instance, Yesterday @sme gave the example of the group from Uganda that would end up paying what is very close to the equivalent of 50% interest on their loan. This is one of the high cases.
High interest rares are typically given to lenders in Africa because that is where access to financial services is possibly the worst and lending is very difficult to come by.
On Kiva you will be able to find people and projects to lend to that are charged 0% interest all the way up to well over 50%.
My personal preference is not to lend where interest rates are excessively high as that is just more likely to be counter productive and lead borrowers into a debt trap.
Also, due to the fact that the borrower has often been lent the money before you even loan it out, means, that in actual fact, you are actually part of a crowdlending initiative for the Field Partner rather than directly contributing to the person whose story you just read.
I therefore like to scrutinize the Field Partner more closely than the story.
So looking at yesterday example on can see that it is actually a bank.
Then going to their web site you are even able to get an idea of their shareholders.
Based on this evaluation it is quite easy for me to see that this is not really the type of loan I want to be making, because I don't really like banks and secondly, it looks to me, that at these interest rates, there seems to be some profiting off the poorest of the poor going on.
The point is:
There is enough information on kiva.com to allow the discerning lender to pick their type of project to fund.
I understand that there's definitely going to be higher administrative costs on small loans in certain countries, however 50% does seem pretty crazy. At 50%, a loan probably isn't the best idea as the person doesn't really understand how it works.
This project has been going on for a long time. Kudos to all those involved.
Yes Bro
I wasN't aware of these pitfalls. I did some microlending through MyC4 But they shut down.
You recommend kaya?
check out @sme they are doing more detailed coverage
Thanks @gavvet.
this is informative...but i getting loans from a financial institution is like cutting a pound of flesh from your body... they make it difficult for you to pay back
It sure can be
This content is very useful. Though this may sound good to many , I'm one that would run from this. 50% APR is RIDICULOUS another bad product for people who've may had made some financial mistakes in the past. Not my cup-o-tea
Wow Just Amazing. Thousand of Borrowers' profile set up on site, and 487 Borrowers are listed from my country. Amazing. Many lenders working some of them are working direct without any field assistance. Sounds Really great to me. Thanks for such a kind post buddy. Love you.
kiva is a great site in my opinion. It's been around for a very long time and they do very very good work.
Agreed, but I don't just click on loan without checking deeper...
Guys, check their silicon valley competitor zidisha.org, it is direct competitor with much lower rates, because they use AI
To be poor and live a hard life is close to slavery. To be poor and buried in high interest debt is one step closer to slavery. -World Travel Pro
.....How philosophical of me, ha ha :)
On a lighter note, I hear these lower interest micro loans to poor communities in Africa are really sparking economic activity and making life better for these people. Great post bringing attention to how those with means can help out.
And on an appreciative note:)
Thank you for taking a notice and a liking to my informative travel blog. It's really made a difference for me here on steemit, and it's greatly appreciated.
Thank you! -Dan "World Travel Pro"
These fuckers are criminals at 50% APR! Like all lenders they rely on people with low credit ratings so they can charge more interest to mitigate the risk.
I applied for a loan with Zopa, they offered me a rate of 7%, I went back and adjusted my income at 5k more and the interest was then slashed to 3%!
The rich always get the best rates or even free banking...
Makes sense though. Default rate on debt must be very high.
What's the guarantees you'll ever get your money back?
None
50% looks like a criminal world.
I think banks are criminal in many ways... Ours here in Africa at least.
Los bancos no son “hipócritas”, los bancos no son “buenas personas”… Esos calificativos son para el Ser Humano. Los bancos son INSTITUCIONES cuyos objetivos son esos precisamente, tomar el dinero de todos y prestarlos a los más altos intereses, lo cual es su ganancia. A los bancos no les interesa sus necesidades, sus pesares, ayudarles, eso es publicidad; Usted les presta dinero y TIENE QUE PAGARLO así tenga que vender a sus hijos. Es la mejor maquinaria de hacer dinero que tiene el sistema: Usted trabaja y ellos ganan, así de sencillo. Su mejor aliado es la DEUDA, ellos crean dinero a partir de la deuda, cuando a Usted le otorgan una tarjeta de crédito, Usted asume una capacidad de pago, es decir, Usted asume una deuda. Es una institución bestial. Acá en mi país por los años 80s y 90s se inventaron un mecanismo diabólico: Usted hacia un préstamo para financiarse una vivienda; al momento de otorgársele el crédito determinaban una tasa de interés y por supuesto una cuota que Usted iba a pagar durante 20 años, luego de seis meses comenzaban a aumentar los intereses y llegaba un momento en que Usted no podía pagar la cuota, entonces le reestructuran la cuota, aumentándola hasta donde Usted pudiera pagar y el resto se lo sumaban al capital como deuda; es decir, Usted mientras mas pagaba mas debia, ya que las cuotas contratadas al principio del crédito no cubrían los intereses, mucho menos amortizar el capital, lo cual implicaba que este fuese aumentando en la medida en que los intereses mensuales eran capitalizados. Eran creditos impagables y Usted quedaba prensado en una deuda de por vida. El gobierno tomó cartas en el asunto e hizo que los bancos reconocieran lo pagado por el publico y a muchos les entregaron sus viviendas ya canceladas y les devolvieron dinero. Por supuesto el gobierno se ganó muchos enemigos. Ese es otro cuento. En resumen, eso son los bancos y para eso existen. El problema es que podemos hacer nosotros como simples mortales ante estas macro instituciones que regulan nuestras vidas. La única salida que veo es racionalizar el consumo, cosa que es muy difícil a niveles macros, tendría que existir unos niveles de conciencia individuales para que entre todos impongamos nuestros criterios de racionalización de los recursos… una tarea muy difícil
Banks are not "hypocrites", banks are not "good people" ... These are for the Human Being. Banks are INSTITUTIONS whose objectives are precisely those, to take the money of all and lend them to the highest interests, which is their gain. Banks are not interested in their needs, their sorrows, helping them, that is publicity; You lend them money and YOU HAVE TO PAY IT so you have to sell your children. It's the best money-making machinery the system has: You work and they win, that's it. Your best ally is DEBT, they create money from debt, when you are granted a credit card, you assume a repayment capacity, ie You assume a debt. It is a beastly institution. Here in my country in the 80s and 90s were invented a diabolical mechanism: You made a loan to finance a home; At the time of granting the credit determined an interest rate and of course a fee that you were going to pay for 20 years, after six months began to increase interest and there came a time when you could not pay the fee, then you restructure The share, increasing it to where you could pay and the rest added to the capital as debt; That is, the more you paid, the more you owed, since the fees contracted at the beginning of the loan did not cover interest, much less amortize the capital, which meant that it increased as the monthly interest was capitalized. They were priceless credits and you were pressed into a debt for life. The government took letters in the matter and made the banks recognize what the public had paid and many were given their already canceled homes and returned money. Of course the government won many enemies. That's another story. In short, that is the banks and for that they exist. The problem is that we can become mere mortals in the face of these macro institutions that regulate our lives. The only exit I see is to rationalize consumption, which is very difficult at macro levels, there would have to be individual levels of awareness so that among all we impose our criteria of rationalization of resources ... a very difficult task
You should check zidisha, it has way lower rates
and higher risks!
Well researched.
If I am assured that it is a fair deal toward the people in need, and my 25$ seriously can help someone start a business... there is no doubt about giving. However, I am always very doubtful about organisations like this and the research is essential before making a commitment. I believe each of us should give straight to the person one wants to help because the figures usually show that "organisations" keep the vast amount of money to themselves for salaries and expenses. The ones who really need help get very low % of the given money. Kiva.org without your research appeared as a good place for helping. Now it doesn't.
This is a cool idea but would make me way to nervous...Anyone actually lend on there? Thanks for the post!
50% de interés sobre su préstamo .-. , se pasan
are any South African Bankers involved in this? SA Bankers are a nasty bunch too. I worked at African Bank for a short time in management. The excesses are literally criminal, all covered by legalese. Close ties to major corporates.
It seems like this site is a great way to lend out your money.
However if I was a lender the only thing I'd be worried about is if they default on a loan. Especially when you are lending to people across the world who could most likely be able to go off of the radar but I guess that is a problem you have to deal with anyway when lending out money.
Also 50% interest rates are absolutely ridiculous. It seems like people like that are people who have would rather take from people who are struggling rather than help them.
Clear to see that some peoples greed overrule their meekness and kind heartedness towards the underprivileged.
Thanks for sharing this site with us @gavvet
Yup Kiva is a great way to lend and you can match your risk profile... The 50% or greater interests are the exception rather than the rule... there are plenty at 0% and I would say the majority are in the region of 10% - 30%
That is where the "risk profile" is somewhat skewed. Your risk profile is based on what the site considers the % of risk, not the "true risk". There is a reason they are high risk and high percentage. Because it is almost a 50/50 percent that you won't get your money back. Plus there is no recourse for default.
The salient points you raised in this post is always the major issue of convern everywhere in Africa -- no exceptions!
There's always undeclared hidden charges by by financial institutions of all types in most African stetates if not all. One begin to wonder if the government has a hand in this because I personally do not understand what national/central banks are there for.
@gavvet i think we bloggers should use our instrument of pen to fight this; keep writing and shouting...one day our voices shall begin to count. Thanks for raising this issue.
@eurogee
50% is insane!!
Its actually better than some of the regular banks in Africa...
ok yeah when you said 0-50% so there are some great deals there too, sounds good, like you said better than dealing with the banks!
This is a very helpful article. I have used Kiva for a long time and never realized the borrowers were paying such a high interest rate. Do you know how to easily search for the Field Partners with reasonable rates? or do you have to look at each loan and peruse the Loan Details and the field partner. And all I can see is the Average cost to borrower which Kiva says in the Help section may or may not be the interest rate. thx for any info.
check out @sme they are doing more detailed coverage
OK thx. I found @sme's articles and followed.
I have been lending through Kiva for a few years and had no idea about any of this information. I will certainly investigate a bit more next time.
I also read some stuff that people who get these loans end up selling their kidneys and skin to make good on these loans. I would never give to any one of them.
Not sure about this... but it could happen with a loan shark I am sure.
I think it happens en mass. They have hospitals and clinics where people do this in the third world; often with the medical tourism facility right next door. I've met two people here in Thailand who have given kidneys although they did not tell me the circumstances.
Those vigorous rich 80+ year olds in power have to get their new organs from somewhere. The sick fat people dying in the us are not providing healthy organs to the volume needed and only so many young healthy people can be shot in the head.
I looked at the stats a while ago and then numbers for transplants are off the charts. I could not find good data on where all those organs were coming from. Young, healthy, non-drinking people are the best providers of viable organs. It's a nasty subject and I stopped looking after I saw it was going to get worse as I looked further.
Holy crap! That's scary if you thought you are doing good and it turns out so aweful
Look up organ harvesting - I had to stop looking bu tit seems legit unfortunately.
Goodness! You'd have thought you were doing a good thing!
It's pretty much impossible to tell. I only give locally and not if they are associated with a big organization out of town. And I volunteered for those places a lot so I could see if they looked good. Look what kind of cars the leaders of the place drive compared to the cause. It doesn't have to be equal - just logical.
Unfortunately there are always that People And bankers who want to make money, No matter for what price.. i Also dont like banks the last years.. they are So Hypocrite And think About one thing...themselves.. thats Why crypto growth is important.. there Will be a day that we dont need them. Unfortunately they Will not feel it because they gathered enough to live Well... there Will be No more golddiggers bankers coming when crypto is mainstream.. we Also have to watch the central crypto exchanges..... Thx that we have bitshares..
The information about the percentage of interest is there on Kiva and you can set filters to exclude the more exorbitant ones. I seem to recall it is usually not interest charges that are high, just a percentage operating cut. Sometimes that was for legit reasons like the country involved was very challenging to operate in, others they just aren't very efficient.
What I didn't like when I was using Kiva was that some field partners practice religious indoctrination or at least have an agenda. So when your are funding loans you service you are funding and helping their religion. I had to rely on some third party lists that indicated which partners those might be, it was a pain but by loaning for projects like solar power and energy conservation I found that there were fewer religious orgs involved anyway.
Thenk for the info, and what the next step mister @gavvet
Informating, thanks for the info. And whats the next step?
This so interesting
thanks for the info
Nice post
Interested post my friend @gavvet
Nice to meet you 😃
please be careful with any hacking website and fraud website.
Too much sites providing information day by day, is steemit popular like stars in the sky?
Share Holders just can wait for best time, but executives enjoy all the time!
thanks for those post bro @gavvet
upvote my friend @gavvet
done
voted
Thanks for the useful info
enjoy sir @gavvet
@gavvet .. Useful information .. are we in Indonesia can get the program?
Regard
@iskandarpcc
Awesome project to lend money
i will check out in the net for more research
Thanks for informing about kiva.org
Thank you for all this effort
Thanks for sharing this site with us
voted
nice resourceful info
I did not Understand a shit but still i m commenting because some whale might like my comment by chance and i get something out of it.......Fed up of the usless posting...that aint taking me anywhere
The lenders land up in a debt-trap and eventually default
good post
-Excellent post thanks for sharing ! @gavvet
I am a new steemians, maybe i should study first with you, regards know me
This is a criminal offense, kiva.org need to be taken out at all cost. They don't help the poor, but instead they are preying on them. It's a crowd funded, and all these crowd behind are crocs. They deserve to serve their whole in jail.