A couple of weeks back we had a post on this blog talking about micro-lending. The post talked about how micro-loans through companies like Kiva or Grameen Bank, can help people in developing countries to get on their feet, get their business up and running, and how it can be much more effective than just giving aid. Instead of just giving them money, you are loaning them money so that they can become self sufficient.
The process is a win-win situation for everybody. The borrower gets a loan at a lower interest rate than they might have otherwise received, and the lender gets the satisfaction of helping, while receiving a small return on their money. I love the concept, and I am definitely interested in trying it soon.
credit: Keith Bacongco
While looking at some of the lowest APR cards this past week I came across a new card from Advanta that has a tie-in with Kiva. I was intrigued, and the card doesn’t look too bad either. The card has no annual fee and there is a 0% interest rate for balance transfers for fifteen months. On top of that, Advanta has a matching program, where if you submit a micro-loan grant to Kiva as a charitable donation, Advanta will match the grant up to $200 per month.
Cardholders will have the option to withdraw or reinvest their donation as a grant to another business owner through Kiva in addition to receiving a 5% statement credit for having a bonus qualifying purchase. Not too shabby!
So if you’re interested in doing some micro-lending, and you need a new credit card (remember to always pay it off every month!), check this one out. I think you’ll be happy you did. Here is one borrower success story from the Kiva site:
This is a great way to help out those entrepreneurs in developing countries where financing is hard to come by or where they’re charged outrageous interest rates. Kiva at least uses micro-finance companies that charge reasonable rates. I wrote about it on my blog.