Kiva U.S.

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Kiva U.S. Review

Kiva is a popular microlender that crowdfunds business loans for eligible small businesses. Find out if it could work for you.

    Shannon Vissers
  • UPDATED

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Kiva U.S. At A Glance

  • Crowdfunded microloans for U.S. small businesses
  • No interest or other borrowing fees
  • Maximum loan size is $15K

Shannon Vissers

Shannon Vissers

Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
The former editor-in-chief of SteelOrbis, Shannon has been researching and writing about small business software and financing since 2015. Her shopping and retail expertise has been cited in numerous publications, including Reader's Digest, MSN, Yahoo Finance, and GOBankingRates . She has also published articles for LIVESTRONG.COM, eHow, Life'd, and other websites. Shannon attended San Diego State University, graduating in 2005 with a BA in English.
Shannon Vissers
View Shannon Vissers's professional experience on LinkedIn.



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6 Comments

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the vendor or bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the vendor or bank advertiser. It is not the vendor or bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

    Karen

    Organization Name: None

    I would like to know if there is a way to track the money you send to the person you send it to. Also if there is an email way to stay connected to the group to see how there business is going. I would like to donate to someone I can actually contact and talk to. Is that a possibility?

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Jessica Dinsmore

    Hi Karen,

    Our understanding is that borrowers and lenders can stay in touch by exchanging messages on the Kiva website, as every borrower has a “conversations” tab on their profile that they can use to provide updates to lenders on their business progress, post thank-you notes to lenders, etc. As for tracking the money you lend to a borrower, it appears that part of the job of Kiva’s Field Partners — the intermediary between Kiva lenders and Kiva borrowers — is to track the spending activities of the borrower and report back to the lender.

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    DM JOHnson

    Organization Name: D M JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES LLC

    I am a startup in the USA, I was told no here is the actual kiva reply:
    Hi there,

    Unfortunately, due to the continuing high demand for Kiva loans from small business owners throughout America, your Kiva loan application has been removed from consideration at this time.

    To strengthen your future business loan applications — whether with Kiva or other small business lenders –, and grow your business, we would recommend contacting one of the following, nationwide service providers. They are experts in providing technical assistance to businesses like yours:

    Your local SCORE chapter for free business mentorship (in person)

    MicroMentor for free business mentorship (online)

    Your local SBDC for free business consulting and training sessions

    I am sorry that we weren’t able to support you with a Kiva loan at this time. We wish you all the best with your business venture, and hope to reconnect in the future.

    SO no they are not suitable for startups unless you are in a third world country, no they will not accept you from the US so dont try, you have to be poor people from another country to get help here despite what thier own page states. I am getting my company going another way with out the startup funds it needs by generation a small income from outbound calls, I am a virtual call center so the actual number of employees I can hire will be very limited untill I can generate enough income with this method.

    THANKS KIVA for NOTHING so youre approved borowers will have the same status with me that you gave me NOTHING

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Garnet

    Organization Name: 1967

    Hey DM Johnson – What type of business do you have? Could the “type” of business that you were trying to start be the reason for you being declined?

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Brian McKeown

    Organization Name: None

    I assisted several hundred people in the Bay Area and around the country to fundraise on Kiva from 2015-18. There are several reasons why business applicant loans are sent your response. If your business application doesn’t make dollars and sense, lacks pertinent information, you can’t demonstrate some sort of an income to pay back the loan, you don’t have a credit score or it’s damaged significantly, you may be denied or asked to provide more details. I’ve seen many sub-standard business applications that make little economic sense and often are contradictory and of poor quality and effort-not suggesting yours falls in this category.

    The type of business is also relevant and a call center is a highly speculative venture, to say the least.

    Did you also ask for $10K, the highest maximum amount as a start-up? If you haven’t been in business or can’t demonstrate a reasonable debt-to-income ratio you’re not going to qualify for the maximum dollar amount and you’re specifically advised not to apply for the maximum.

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    David Kiwanuka

    I have a dream to empower women in my country from their childhood through sports and education, and providing academic inclusion to everyone through providing affordable quality education with a holistic approach, this seems to be a great platform for this dream to come to reality.

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

Comments are closed.

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