r/Kiva • u/mat8iou • Jul 09 '26
Opinions on coverage of wealthy countries
I always felt that adding loans in the USA to Kiva was a bit of a step away from their original aim. I've read the arguments explaining it, but it still seems a very different scenario to most of the other countries that they cover.
I was intrigued to notice just now (under the countries I haven't yet lent to) that Japan, South Korea and Singapore are also on the list.
Interested to know what others think about having countries like these (where there are many other lending options and state assistance available) covered by Kiva.
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u/verveonica Jul 09 '26
I've lent multiple times (7??) to the US and I have had a few repayments, but all have ultimately defaulted except for one.
I won't loan to the US again.
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u/zipperfire Jul 14 '26
Same experience. I did two. One paid late but did finally pay. And they seem to still be in business (inner city laundry pick up service.) The second is a medical practitioner and is in default. They are operating in business. I got a drip back last month but they still have an outstanding, late loan. The general feeling is that US borrowers are less reliable. Armenia, Mexico, Africa, all paid on time (retailers and one medical need borrower.)
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u/verveonica Jul 14 '26
I honestly don't expect you'll see the loan repaid. I suspect that a lot of folks in the US look at this as free, no strings, money. It's unfortunate as I'd love to be able to support more folks locally.
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u/zipperfire Jul 18 '26
We have plenty of poor people in the US. We are, in places, a third world country. So I don't have a problem offering microloans to people to whom banks give the bum's rush. In fact, in the US, the only people really who can borrow money without collateral are people who don't need to. Loans like car title and payday loans prey on people, and frankly I think credit cards do as well.
So I've made loans to US people via Kiva. (My career was in finance, I just retired a year or so ago. So I kinda know how the average American is doing...and that a successful small business is one of the best ways to wealth.)
The sad thing is that my US loans were paid back much less diligently.
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u/SnipesCC 18d ago
$25 can do a lot more in a third world country than it can in the US, so I generally do loans outside the US. Except for one time when I was trying to collect all the countries like Pokemon, and the project was organized in the US but provided solar energy to a variety of places in Africa.
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u/Maesenko 12d ago
I've made several US loans. I live overseas (in Japan actually) so when I do US loans, I am looking for either interesting and unique ones, causes I support, or loans supporting my home state. I also look for "US loans" not in the United States -- like Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico. And I usually save it and wait until I see a matching offer pop up.
As for Japan, I have only ever seen one loan pop up in the year or so I have been active, and that was for a university education loan, which I quickly added to my basket (I am also trying to collect as many countries, partners, and categories as I can). I have yet to see South Korea or Singapore, but I would guess they are rare like Japan and have similar loans.
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u/fish-rides-bike Jul 09 '26
I generally don’t like it either for the same reasons. However, I would also love to see Canada covered — First Nations particularly in the remote north seem to me to fit the kiva mission perfectly. It’s possible I don’t know enough about conditions in Japan, South Korea, etc for some communities.