Kiva Zip is up and running

Kiva zip is alive. Go to https://zip.kiva.org to request an invite.
.


It permits direct interest free loans to borrowers with no field partner charging fees. It adds to the risk but makes the loan more affordable for the borrower.

.
So far it does not seem to credit teams for loans.

Thanks for doing this KyRoamer. The initial launch has only a few loans from Kenya and San Francisco. I have made three loans there myself but I also have tons of questions that I hope we'll find time to address during the DO.

I too have questions. I posted some on the blog and will try feedback for answers. If I learn anything special, I will let you know.

To learn more about Kiva Zip check out the FAQ at https://zip.kiva.org/home/faq.

Just made my second Kiva Zip loan to Emiliana (Jarred SF Brine) at https://zip.kiva.org/loans/50. My first was to Musyoka (ISmart Kenya) at https://zip.kiva.org/loans/58. Both are still fund raising.

For now I am through with Zip loans as I want to concentrate on loans that count towards our team March total and am saving up for the SF Do.

I will be meeting with Kiva staff on March 10 after the DO to discuss some technical operating issues in which my associates and/or I have expertise. If you have specific issues you'd like to be dealt with in that context please state them here and I'll include them for the meetings.

The Zip web site needs to be more user friendly. I would open all conversations on Fundraising loans to everyone. It lets those of us contemplating a loan access and may result in a better exchange of information and more lending.I'd open the Blog so that anyone can post and have comments show. I'd make the contact information in Feedback live so that all you have to do is click on it to open your email program.

Trustees often have motives for endorsing. Clear disclosure is a must. if the Trustee is a Vendor Trustee, that should show in bold.

I will share more thoughts with you at the Do.

I like the low cost to the borrowers.

Please join with me and support Emiliana's efforts in starting an artisinal pickle company - Jarred. If you are a Zip member, go to https://zip.kiva.org/loans/50.

Ha! You don't like pickles anyway, except for the shredded colorful ones that come with your lunchtime curry. Too bad we do not have decent Japanese curry (any Japanese curry except for what i make) in Rio de Janeiro. There's a GoGo in SP, but I like neither GoGo nor SP.

I just got accepted into Zip and it won't paypal from a non-US card. It looks like Zip credit is different to my non-Zip credit so I can't top-up then loan.

That is not good.

Last minute addition to the Do talks!

I guess that lets me out.

Add credit to normal Kiva account. You can then use it on Zip.

Thank you for the idea. I'll try that.

We'll just have to do something else then. I don't know what, but I'm thinking I should have a glass of wine and think about it.

More funds for normal kiva loans?

There's an idea. Less money spent on drinks and more on regular loans.

Anyone doing anything exciting? Obviously our people at the Do are doing exciting things. Me? I'm watching a movie.

Oops, posted on the wrong thread!

That should clarify things!

I've had some nights where I've drunk a bottle of wine then woken up to find an email from Kiva congratulating me on my latest loan.

Maybe that's because you're so tough you drink 5 to 10 bottles of wine in a sitting. I wish I was tough like you!

But in the end you'll have a drinking problem, since you'll have no money left for drink

I work with Zidisha Inc., a small microfinance organization based out of Washington, DC that is run on a truly peer to peer microloan platform.
We are an organization that actually has been doing this all along since our inception in October 2009. Our director, Julia Kurnia, was shocked with the discrepancies she noticed when working in Africa with other microfinance organizations and decided to do something about it. Loans that were given at 0% interest were often actually dispersed with interest rates of 30% to 40% by the intermediary local loan institutions. Zidisha started out as an experiment in microfinance and has become a testament that this platform works. The loans target computer literate people who have any successful history of loan repayment. Zidisha conducts a background check only. Once on the site, the loans that are raised go directly to the borrower (for example, in Kenya we use M-PESA). We encourage borrowers and lenders to ask questions to each other, sent comments, and post to each other on the loan profiles. We have now raised over $180,000 in loans at a borrower interest rates of around 8%~12% based on mututally agreed upon terms between borrower and lender. Our repayment rate is 99.58%.

Check out our website at www.zidisha.org, www.twitter.com/zidishainc, or www.facebook.com/zidishainc for more information.
Best wishes,
Jason
Jason@zidisha.org