The Aware Show

Best Of The Aware Show with Premal Shah: Matching the Working Poor with Small Business Loans

12.07.2023 - By The Aware Show with Lisa GarrPlay

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Did you know that nearly 2 billion people worldwide have no access to banking and financial services? A young tech engineer originally from India and living in Silicon Valley, decided to do what he could to change that. Premal Shah first began dreaming of “internet microfinance” while working at PayPal, the online payments company. In late 2004, Premal took a 3-month leave from PayPal to develop and test the internet microfinance concept in India. When he returned to Silicon Valley, he met other like-minded dreamers and quit his job at PayPal to help bring the Kiva concept to life and eventually to scale. At the time of this interview, Kiva had raised more than $1 million each week for the working poor in more than 60 countries and was named a Top 50 Website by TIME Magazine. Today they are helping in more than 80 countries. By donating just a few dollars, you can be part of the solution and change someone’s life for the better.  Info and ways to donate at Kiva.org

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