Microfinance Week In Review: Week Ending September 3rd
Some of the week’s news in the microfinance, green business initiatives and the small business sector:
- The Importance of Networking- ACCION USA YouTube
- Microloan program is a big help for Small Businesses - LA Times
- U.S. Falls Short in Awarding Small Business Contracts - Wall Street Journal
- Social Media Are Easier Than You Think – The New York Times
Tags: LinkedIn, networking, news, small business, social media, tip, U.S. microfinance, United States, Week In Review
Microfinance Week in Review- Week ending June 18
Some of the week’s news in the microfinance, green business initiatives and the small business sector:
- Microfinance Tied to Economy, Study Finds – Michigan State University News
- The Reality of a Sweet American Dream- Queens Courier
- Groupon Coupons: The Small Biz Challenge- Bloomberg Newsweek
- No Profits, No Loans: How to Survive- CNN Money
- Underbanked Strategies- The New Faces- American Banker
- Domestic Microfinance Steps into Credit Breach- Bloomberg Newsweek
Tags: accion usa georgia, client story, CNN, microfinance, small business, success story, U.S. microfinance
Mission, Not Profit, Drives Interest Rates in the U.S.: Response to “Banks Making Big Profits from Tiny Loans”
Readers of “Banks Making Big Profits From Tiny Loans” (The New York Times, April 14, 2010) should note that the lending practices described are not consistent with the practice of microfinance in the United States, where the strategy is also alive and well.
The U.S. ACCION Network has distributed over $260 million in loans to micro-businesses across the US. We have done so with interest rates that reflect our primary mission: to put reasonably priced credit in the hands of those who are locked out of the traditional financial mainstream, and to do so in a manner that assists the business owner in increasing, not depleting his/her assets. Though it would be easy to say thresholds are set by law, the primary driver is creating an environment in which hardworking people have an opportunity to succeed.
Typical U.S. microloan interest rates are set so that the loan recipients profit, not the lender.
Our rates range by program and by state but are well below the rates cited as endemic in the microfinance world, below credit card interest rates, and are accurately stated on the Kiva website. On loans that average $10,000, there isn’t much income generated for ACCION once we have covered our capital costs and the risk we take per loan. As a result, while we continue to drive improvements, we are not sustainable without the support of foundations, individual donors and government. That is a fact that has limited how much of the market we can serve and our ability to go to scale.
Following a rigorous due diligence process, ACCION USA was chosen by Kiva to be one of two microfinance partner organizations working with US-based businesses. The relationship serves each of our missions well: to facilitate access to the capital required to start or grow a business. Kiva’s ability to harness the good will and interest of millions of people in investing to directly affect the lives of individual business owners enables ACCION USA to lend more to more businesses. That’s not the material of criticism; it is a positive outcome born of innovation, common mission and a dedication to doing what is right for the people we serve.
Reverse Remittances and U.S. Microfinance
When I interview ACCION USA clients to gather information for their Kiva profiles, they nearly always mention having a family member in another country relying on them to send small portions of their income, or “remittances,” back home. That’s why this week’s New York Times article on “reverse remittances” struck a chord with me. The article explains how families abroad are now having to send monetary support to their family members in the U.S. While immigrants originally came here to search for better economic opportunities, nowadays they are finding the opposite.
Is returning to their home countries an option? For some, it is – but it’s not that easy. It may take immense effort and sacrifice to scrape together the thousands of dollars needed to move to a new country. Many immigrants who come to the U.S. give up their homes and possessions in their native country and trade them in for an entirely new life. They may have married and had children who would be disrupted by a move to another country they barely know.
Immigrants are a vital part of our economy – in New York, for example, over the last decade, immigrant-dominated neighborhoods such as Washington Heights and Sunset Park have seen increases in new firms at rates close to 50%, and job growth of 30% (compared to overall city job growth of 7%).1 Entrepreneurship is an engine of employment, as small businesses provide self-employment for the business owner and are responsible for 75% of net new job creation in the U.S.2
Now, more than ever, small business ownership is a way for immigrants to take control of their economic future and take the initiative to provide employment opportunities for themselves and others in their communities. As unemployment grows in the U.S., ACCION USA’s mission to support these entrepreneurs and, by extension, the economic development of their communities, gains more urgency.
1A World of Opportunity, Center for an Urban Future. February 2007.
2MicroTest Outcomes 2008. The Aspen Institute – FIELD Program