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Campaign For Change

Even A Small Loan Can Help

When Matt and Jessica Flannery wanted to start their micro-loan website Kiva a lawyer friend told them it couldn’t be done. ‘“You can’t just send money to someone in Uganda and have [him or her] send it back and have it be OK. If you do that, someone’s going to care. Someone’s going to show up at your door’” he said. Flannery’s reply was that “I read all the policy and case law on it, and I couldn’t find anything that said it was illegal. So we just started doing it.” He was right. Today the website has had over 270,000 lenders send out loans as low as $25. They’ve already helped out around 40,000 people with roughly $27 million in loan. So far the loans have reached 40 countries. 

Photo: openDemocracy/Flickr

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  • payday loans
    payday loans

    In late 2007, the government already declared that the country is in recession because of continuous financial crisis and the economy slow down. It resulted to cut off of employees for most of companies here and outside the country. More and more people were into payday loans for emergency expenses even before they get their monthly salary. Many believe that Obama can resolve our economic crisis. However, payday loan lenders get a bad reputation, and it's quite unjustified. Payday loan lenders, or short term lenders, have been under fire from state legislatures and consumer interest groups (who have been conspicuously mum on credit cards and student loans). Payday loans are seen as easy money, with uneasy consequences, but it isn't true. A payday loan, or cash advance, is a short term loan for a small amount that you pay back quickly, usually on the next payday. (Hence the name.) Studies indicate that the profit margin is far below how much banks and credit card companies make, so the detractors need to do some credit repair for their slander against payday loan lenders.

  • Mitchell Mayall
    Mitchell Mayall

    smart, very smart.

  • David Vargas
    David Vargas

    "Even a small loan can help"... so true

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