Most Kiva loans are administered by a Field Partner—a local partner that distributes funds and collects repayments. While these partners help ensure loans are effectively used and repaid, they can also introduce institutional risks, such as:

• Bankruptcy: The partner may go out of business and be unable to collect your loan.

• Fraud: Funds may be misused or misappropriated by staff.

• Operational issues: Cash flow problems or administrative difficulties can delay or prevent repayment.

Kiva performs due diligence on all Field Partners to help assess and manage these risks. Learn more here.

Before a loan is posted on Kiva, we conduct a thorough due diligence process. However, even with careful evaluation, borrowers may default due to:

• Business challenges: Crop failure, cash flow issues, or low demand for goods/services.

• Health concerns: Illnesses such as malaria, cancer, or physical disabilities affecting income.

• Unexpected hardships: Theft, family expenses (such as school fees), over-indebtedness, reduced remittances, or civil disturbances.

If a borrower defaults, Field Partners are expected to follow their usual collection practices and adhere to Smart Campaign client protection principles.

While direct loans offer 0% interest to the borrower and allow for more direct impact, they also carry a higher risk of default. This is primarily because:

• There’s no on-the-ground Field Partner to monitor or follow up with the borrower.

• Many borrowers are startups or early-stage businesses, which often face unpredictable challenges.

To help ensure trust and accountability, borrowers must either: 

• Be endorsed by a Kiva Trustee, an organization, or an individual who works to connect borrowers with Kiva.

• Or get initial support from their personal network before their loan can fundraise publicly on Kiva.

Since Kiva operates in U.S. dollars, currency fluctuations can affect the value of your loan repayments.

There are two types of currency risk:

1. Borrower currency risk: Many loans are disbursed in local currency. If the U.S. dollar strengthens, repayments may be worth less when converted back. This risk is clearly noted in the Loan Details section on each borrower’s page.

2. Lender currency risk: If your home currency isn’t the U.S. dollar, your initial conversion into USD (and any later conversion back) may result in additional loss or gain due to exchange rate shifts.

Note: If both your currency and the loan currency are in USD, you are not exposed to foreign exchange risk.

International lending comes with macro-level risks that vary by country and region. These include:

• Economic Instability: Currency devaluation or government-imposed exchange controls may impact repayment.

• Political Shifts: Many loans on Kiva are disbursed in the developing world. Changing laws or regulations can affect borrowers’ ability or obligation to repay.

• Natural Disasters: Floods, droughts, tsunamis, and other natural events can severely impact borrowers’ ability to repay loans.

To help balance risk, Kiva limits total loans in a single country to no more than 10% of all outstanding loans. In certain cases, this limit may be temporarily adjusted.

As with any organization, Kiva faces operational risks, including the potential for discontinuing its services in the future. To help protect lender funds:

• Lender balances are held separately from Kiva’s operational funds.

• These balances—including deposits not yet lent and repaid funds—are stored in designated bank accounts for the benefit of Kiva lenders.

• This separation aims to protect your funds from any potential claims by Kiva creditors (other than you, the lender).

While most Kiva loans are fully repaid, repayment is not guaranteed. Kiva aims to provide transparency, so lenders should be aware that there is some level of risk involved.

Borrower repayments can be influenced by various factors such as changes in their business, local economic conditions, or currency fluctuations. Kiva partners work closely with borrowers to help manage these challenges.

Lending on Kiva involves some risk, and it is possible that you may not receive the full amount back. However, many lenders choose to participate because they value supporting people and communities around the world.