Kiva U.S. Review

Pros

• Suitable for startups
• No interest
• No credit score requirements
• No additional fees
• Good customer support

Cons

• Unsuited for large businesses
• Lengthy application process
• Typical time to funding: one to three months

What Is Kiva U.S.?

Kiva U.S. is a nonprofit microlender offering 0% interest crowdfunded small business loans. Kiva uses a unique underwriting model where instead of checking credit scores and cash flow documents, Kiva U.S. relies on what it calls “social underwriting.” It gauges your online presence and community standing to assess your character and creditworthiness.

Kiva loans are not without their downsides: the fundraising period can last up to 60 days, which may be too long for some merchants to wait. And with a maximum possible borrowing amount of $15K, some businesses might find they need access to more capital. On the other hand, merchants looking for the best deal can hardly do better than 0% interest.

If it sounds like Kiva loans could meet your needs, keep reading this Kiva review. Or if crowdfunding isn’t feasible for you, check out the best small business loans.

Services Offered

Kiva U.S. offers short- to medium-term business loans up $15,000 to small businesses. Kiva’s small-value, zero-interest loans are crowdfunded on a borrower-by-borrower basis via a private fundraising period and a public fundraising period. While these microloans do not have any interest or fees, they are still loans and must be repaid.

Kiva U.S. lending services differ from the international Kiva services in that U.S. borrowers receive their interest-free loan directly from the lending platform, rather than from their individual loan backers. Repayments are also made directly to Kiva. (In the non-US version of Kiva, funds are disbursed and collected by individual microlenders, who also collect interest.)

While we appreciate that Kiva’s loans open up funding opportunities for underserved borrowers, its services are limited. While good for borrowers that need a microloan, the $15K borrowing limit won’t be suitable for borrowers that need a large amount of capital. While there is a Kiva mobile app, there is not a Kiva U.S. app for tracking loan progress on the go.

For these reasons, Kiva gets a 2.9/5 for its services.

Kiva U.S. Borrower Qualifications

Kiva U.S. doesn’t require any time in business or a certain amount of revenue. The organization also doesn’t check your credit score. To be eligible for a loan, you do have to have a legitimate business that is not bankrupt or involved in illegal activities, and the loan proceeds must be used for business purposes.

A few more basic requirements include:

• Your business must be based in the U.S. (except Nevada and North Dakota).
• You must be 18+ years old.
• You cannot have any active foreclosures, bankruptcies, or liens.
• You must convince 5-35 friends, family, and/or community members to loan to you to demonstrate social capital

Note that your business can be in any stage of development, even just the “idea” phase. Nonprofits are also eligible as long as you can prove revenue (donations).

It’s easy to qualify for Kiva U.S. loans, although you will have to undergo social underwriting (more on that later). For borrowing requirements, we rate Kiva U.S. a solid 4.9/5.

Kiva U.S. Rates & Fees

Borrowers are potentially eligible for a maximum of $15K, with a term length of 6 months to 3 years. Your term length and the amount you are personally allowed to ask for will vary depending on many characteristics, including business age and other factors.

The number of private lenders you must solicit from your community will also vary — between 5 and 35 individuals — depending on your loan size and other factors.

Interest rates are always 0%, and there are no fees for borrowing. Naturally, even though the loans carry no fees, you are still responsible for making all your monthly repayments.

Kiva U.S. does not require collateral, but there are still consequences for defaulting on a loan: Kiva reports to business credit agencies. If you default on your loan, your credit score will be negatively affected.

With repayment terms of up to three years, no interest rates, and no fees, it should come as no surprise that we gave Kiva a perfect 5-star rating in this category.

Application Process

Because Kiva’s loans are crowdfunded, it has a longer application process than other business lenders. The whole process can take up to two months.

Here’s an overview of the whole process:

1. Fill out an application online
2. Enter the approval stage (10-15 days)
3. Enter a private funding period of up to 15 days
4. Enter a 30-day public funding period
5. Get funds within 5-7 days via PayPal

In order to begin the process, fill out an application on the Kiva website. The application will ask for information about you, your contact information, your personal finances, your business, your social media accounts, and information about your loan. According to the FAQ, this step will take 30 minutes to an hour to complete.

You will also need to provide a picture and a bio about yourself and your business for your profile. Kiva details a fair amount of information regarding best practices for your profile on the website.

After your application has been submitted, a member of Kiva’s team will review your application and get in touch with instructions on next steps if you are approved.

Upon approval, you will enter a 15-day private funding period. During this part of the application, you’ll be required to recruit 5 to 35 people from your own circles to fund your loan. The number of people you’ll have to recruit depends upon how much money you’re requesting.

When the private funding period is over, your loan will enter the public phase, during which anybody can lend you money. Your listing will stay live for 30 days or until funded. During this time, and even after your loan is funded, you will be able to interact with investors (and potential investors) via a conversation function on your profile.

After your loan is 100% funded, the money will be sent to your PayPal account within 7 days.

The application process does take some work, and if you need fast funding, you’ll be better off looking elsewhere. Overall, we give Kiva a rating of 3.5/5 for its application process.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

The Kiva U.S. website provides everything the average borrower would need to know about how to raise funds on Kiva’s platform. The website clearly covers everything from application to repayment, has an FAQ, and provides additional resources as well.

There are no red flags here — we give Kiva U.S. a 5-star rating in this category.

Customer Service & Technical Support

The Kiva U.S. website has a plethora of information, including a walkthrough of the whole process, a resource center, and an FAQ. The main Kiva website also has a help center. You’ll be able to answer most of your questions from those resources.

If your question can’t be answered on the website, you can contact the community support team via email or phone, though the phone line is voicemail only. They promise to get back to you within 48 hours. When you begin an application, somebody should get in contact with you regarding your loan. Overall, borrowers are pleased with the quality of support.

For customer service, we rate Kiva 4.1/5.

User Reviews

Kiva has a Trustpilot rating of 4.7 stars out of 540+ reviews. Some Kiva reviews pertain to the international version of the lending program, however. There are also some testimonials on the Kiva U.S. website and other scattered places online.

Given the quality and quantity of reviews available, we rate Kiva 4.1/5 for user reviews.

Negative Reviews & Complaints

In terms of borrowers who use Kiva U.S., complaints are scarce. While there are some reports from people who are frustrated because Kiva declined their application (a risk that merchants run any time they apply for financing), most borrowers have positive experiences to report.

Nonetheless, here are a few reasons a loan from Kiva U.S. might not be right for your business:

• Long Application Process: Your loan could take up to two months to be funded. Furthermore, because you have to drum up investors, the process is more involved, and you run the risk of not meeting your goal at the end of the process.
• Small Borrowing Amounts: Currently, Kiva’s loans cap off at a maximum of $15K, and the amount you’ll personally be able to request might be even less. If you need more capital, you might want to look elsewhere for funding.

Positive Reviews & Testimonials

There are a number of positive Kiva loan reviews on the company’s website and floating around on the web. Obviously, people love that these loans come with absolutely no fees or interest.

Another common praise regarding Kiva U.S. is the personal touch. Borrowers like the feeling that other people are lending simply to help grow their business. While other peer-to-peer lending sites can feel impersonal, Kiva fosters a sense of community. Borrowers are required to post pictures and a bio, and they are able to interact with lenders and potential lenders via the conversations tab on their profile.

Kiva U.S. FAQs

Final Verdict on Kiva U.S.

It’s hard to dislike Kiva U.S. and the program it operates. Barring grants and donations, this is one of the least expensive forms of financing available to business owners.

While Kiva loans certainly won’t work for every business, they are definitely worth checking out if you run a community-oriented business that needs a small infusion of cash.

Our overall rating of Kiva U.S. falls at 4.2/5. We here at Merchant Maverick give our recommendation for Kiva U.S. to borrowers that are willing to put in the work for a microloan that comes with an unheard of 0% interest rate and no credit check.

Is Kiva not the right fit for your business, but you need a lender that will work with you despite not having the best credit? You might want to look into loans for startups with bad credit for more business financing options.

Good luck!

Business Loan & Funding Products Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing business lenders since 2015. Our writers have tested over a hundred different funding products, including traditional term loans, online loans, lines of credit, start-up loans, merchant cash advances, and equipment financing. In each review, we evaluate rates and fees, services, eligibility requirements, application process, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews.

Read more about how we rate business loans and funding products.

When comparing different lenders and loan products, we consider many data points, including the ease and transparency of the application process, interest rates, repayment structure, sales ethics, time to funding, revenue and time in business qualifications, and credit score requirements. Our lists of the best funding products include only those we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points, and often share qualities such as widespread accessibility across fifty states, low rates, flexible requirements, and competitive borrowing amounts.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the loans and funding products included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

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Explore a wide range of business loan options at BusinessLoans.com. With no minimum credit score requirement, find the perfect funding solution for your needs. Get Started.