Microcredit in the U.S. has existed for two decades, but it gets less attention here than in the rest of the world. The average U.S. loan is $7,000, compared to a few hundred abroad. And relative need may be perceived differently too. [...] To test the waters, Kiva is having two U.S. microfinance institutions post their entrepreneur's profiles online.
This is a fascinating development and I've long wondered why there is not a website for direct person-to-person lending. I'd be very interested to know the interest rates on the microloans to U.S. entrepreneurs; the interest rates in developing countries are typically above 40% because of the small amount of the loans and the time cost. But while the loan amounts are higher and the time costs smaller in the U.S., I have also heard that the default rate is much higher among U.S. entrepreneurs (possibly because there is less competition among lenders in developing countries), so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Plus, if you're going to open your doors to the U.S., then the next logical step is to open your doors to the entire world.
