Santilata cannot start her business without funds. Hence she seeks a loan. She is joined by nine other women in seeking a loan, and together they need a loan to purchase raw materials for their respective businesses. They have come together because they are all finding it hard to meet their household expenses with their current household income. They need loans to either expand their current businesses or to start new ones to meet the needs of their families. They are grateful to their lenders.
This loan provides working capital to women in rural Odisha. This loan will enable these women to start or expand their small income generating businesses and increase their income. By supporting this loan, you are helping deepen financial access for women micro-entrepreneurs who do not have access to finance from traditional financial sources.
Milaap enables individuals all over the world to give a loan to the deserving, working class of India – students, small businesses, families – who need a small amount of capital to get ahead and change their lives for the better.
Milaap’s model is similar to Kiva’s. Milaap partners with proven, credible grass-root level organizations to identify deserving borrowers and the amount of financial assistance they need. The borrowers are published on the Milaap website and the profiles get funded by both individuals and organizations around the world.
This loan will be repaid to Kiva lenders in monthly installments, which is similar to Kiva loans in most countries but unusual for Kiva loans in India. This is because Kiva’s Field Partners based in India must wait 3 years before funds can be repaid, due to Indian government regulations. Milaap is still subject to the 3-year waiting period, but it has an entity in Singapore, which allows it to repay Kiva on a monthly basis through net billing.
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.
Kiva’s Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower’s loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.