Years ago, we started to think about supporting a charity or impactful initiative to make a difference to people in the world.

On a daily basis, we already impact the lives of our clients to support them to integrate into local society after they move from one country to the other. We support by means of finding a job, finding a different career, learn about the culture and language, following a new educational path, starting up a business, or contributing to local volunteering initiatives to name a few. We see how powerful our job is and how lives changed positively.

It was time to start thinking of how we could also help people that have typically been excluded from the financial table during their lives.

Since we strongly believe in the strength of self-empowerment, our choice was made to support KIVA, a non-traditional charity, because the money their lenders choose to spend, is spent with the assumption that it is going to be repaid over time. Then being available again to lend it to new people in need. We can now tell you it was the best decision we ever made. We received many positive stories of what people have done with the money we lent and the change they have made to their lives and the lives of their families. It’s heartwarming to read.

Think about it for a minute, how easy it is to open a bank account.  As young people near graduation, they are bombarded with credit card applications, bank account offers, and ads to entice them to take out loans with certain banks for college tuition or their first car. With so many financial services readily available, it may be hard to believe that over 2.5 billion working-age adults around the world have no access to any of these formal banking services. Imagine if you and your family were never able to use a bank, had never seen a credit card, and were denied access to loans for things like a house, car, your college tuition, or their business.

What is Financial Inclusion?

Financial inclusion is ‘banking the unbankable’ (think: the opposite of exclusion). It means ensuring affordable access to banking services to those who otherwise would not have had access, such as those living in very remote locations or living in poverty.

Via KIVA we provide loans to people to, for instance:

1. Start /grow their small business
2. Buy medicine
3. Pay for tuition to go to school
4. Purchase solar energy to power their home

The loan is paid back over time.

Many people around the world may not have access to a loan, because:

1. The person may live in a very rural location where it would be hard to physically get a loan.
2. The individual may be illiterate and unable to read the documents necessary to receive the loans.
3. There may be a cultural barrier. For example, in some countries, it is difficult for women to obtain loans from banks.

Kiva strives to break these barriers and provide those seeking support with access to financial capital services.

Also, feel like making a real difference? Then join us, and try out microfinance yourself:

1. Choose a borrower. Browse hundreds of borrower profiles and find a story that connects with you.

1. Think about how these borrowers will use their    How will the loans impact their life and family?
2. Make a loan. Click ‘Lend’ to send money via KIVA Field Partners, who vet, distribute, and administer each loan.
3. Get repaid. Receive updates as the borrowers you support to succeed and repay their loans. It is paid back to you 97% of the time. That money can be withdrawn or recycled, so you can continue to make loans on Kiva to help even more people access more opportunities for themselves and their families.
4. Repeat!

When borrowers repay, that money is yours to keep, donate to Kiva or lend again to empower someone new!

Make an Impact & Lend! You can lend as little as $25 and make a difference!

Check out KIVA by clicking here!