The first quarter of 2011 had a "catch our breath" feel to it in the MF Site. Instead of being quick to keep adding groups, we stayed with 5 for 6 months and spent time reevaluating the program. We've come up with some interesting changes:
- Individual loans start with loan #3 and allow us to be more discerning with who we lend to and gives borrowers a lot more flexibility
- Lower Interest. We're dropping our interest rate for individual loans from 2%/month to 1%/month.
- Collateral: We continue to only use "social collateral" with the first 2 group loans, but starting with loan #3 associates will be signing loan contracts that include something as collateral
I've also developed a curriculum for the first 30 meetings we have with any new group. It's a personal finance course that teaches everything from giving, to saving, to budgeting, to how to teach your kids about money.
