Hi everyone! I just got off the phone with a very helpful Kiva representative. I've been trying to get a fuller understanding of
the way that post-disbursed loans work. If you read the loans carefully (like we all do at LLL!) then you may have noticed
that occasionally a loan will have a post-disbursal date that is actually a few days before the expiration date. In other cases,
the post-disbursal date might be a month or even two after the loan's fundraising period on Kiva ends.
Here is some of the information that I received:
ABOUT PDLs GENERALLY:
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Approximately 1% of Kiva loans are post-disbursed. Often borrowers need the money much, much sooner, so many,
if offered the post-disbursed option, will choose to look elsewhere.
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Most partners who offer post-disbursed loans do so because of their own liquidity issues: they simply don't have the cash
on hand to make a loan, and have to wait for it to come in from Kiva. I asked if this meant that most of the lenders offering
post-disbursed loans were newer FPs that were still developing their lending capabilities. Kiva is going to check on this and
get back to me, so I'll share the answer when I know!
ABOUT THE DATES:
When a FP gives a borrower a PDL, they are asked to assign an estimated date of disbursal. They are given a 90-day window. So:
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A FP who has a disbursal date for the loan that actually falls before the expiration date has decided -- based on
internal calculations of how well their loans fare on Kiva, the amount requested, the type of loan, etc. - that they
are pretty confident that the loan will fill, and fill before its 30-day Kiva period.
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A FP who lists a later date is not as confident that the loan will fill, and also does not have enough liquidity
to advance the money for any amount of time - they have to literally have the Kiva money in their hands to
disburse to the lenders.
THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT: Any PDL loan that doesn't fill will not be given to borrowers. A post-disbursal date is an ESTIMATE,
not a guarantee. If the p-d date falls before the 30-day Kiva expiration date, the loan can still expire and the borrowers will get nothing.
So, bottom line: we still need to be very careful and vigilant about those expiration dates!
Sorry for the length of this message!