Advanta Bank’s KivaB4B Program
Published by Drew Meyers, Editor | 03 Jun 2008 at 07:34 pm
I read about the KivaB4B Program the other night and marveled at what an amazing initiative it was. What is the program?
Advanta empowers its cardholders (well over one million) to ‘double the impact’ of their Kiva loans. Anytime a lender uses their Advanta credit card (or the new KivaB4B card) to make a grant, Advanta will match it - dollar for dollar - up to $200 per month per account. Additionally, for every card that Kiva activates, the organization also receives $100 from Advanta. That helps keep the lights on.
This is a win for everyone. Advanta is seen as socially responsible and will likely increase new accounts. Kiva gets additional funding to help cover overhead expenses. Lenders on Kiva with Advanta credit cards have extra money to loan to entrepreneurs all over the world.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
kellen levan on 13 Jul 2008 at 8:34 am #
I love the idea of microfinance but involving huge credit corporations in the mix to me is self defeating. It’s simply a way for them to slap their name onto something positive. The corporate dominance of our world is one of the vehicles for such disparities. I don’t think they are part of the solution. I could be wrong.