Kiva

What happens when 620,000 lenders fund 615,000 entrepreneurs, students, and other microfinance borrowers around the world?

Five+ years of Kiva loan activity, in full color. (Thx Anders GS)

I posted about Kiva in early 2009 after my first loan. 108 loans later, I'm still at it. The key is Kiva's auto lending function which makes it very easy to lend. Just set your loan and auto-pay criteria and forget about it. 

Currently, I automatically increase my lending balance $25 every month and lend exclusively to women entrepreneurs, primarily in Africa, with businesses in the Agriculture, Arts, Education, Food, and Health sectors. 

If you need some cash, it's easy to withdraw your funds from Kiva. On my loans thus far, I've had 0% defaults, a .87% delinquency rate, and only a .01% currency exchange loss. So essentially, no principal loss at all over four years.  I'm doing much better than U.S. banks.