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:

• 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.
• 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:

• 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.
• 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!