# Kiva - Lend for Good — Lend $25 and change a life

> Microfinance lending platform for social impact and financial inclusion. (iPhone/iPad app by Kiva.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kiva-lend-for-good/id1453093374 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Kiva](https://appshunter.io/developer/1440067347)
- Category: Social Networking, Finance
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.90/5 from 2,420 App Store ratings · 118 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 14.0 · 51 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2020-03-02
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kiva-lend-for-good/id1453093374/reviews.md

## What is Kiva?

Dreams are universal - opportunity is not. You can unlock opportunity for people without access to a bank - whether they’re an entrepreneur, a student, a farmer, a single mom or a refugee. Lend as little as $25 to a microfinance loan on Kiva and make an exponential impact by re-lending your money over and over again. Join our community of 1.9 million people who have crowdfunded $1.4 billion in loans to 3.4 million borrowers in over 90 countries.

How Kiva works:

1. Choose a borrower – Browse by category and find an entrepreneur to support.

2. Make a loan – Help fund a loan with as little as $25. 

3. Get repaid – Kiva borrowers have a 96% repayment rate historically. 

4. Repeat – Relend your money or withdraw your funds. 

We envision a financially inclusive world where all people hold the power to improve their lives.

More than 1.7 billion people around the world are unbanked and can’t access the financial services they need. Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive.

We do this by crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.

By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, you can be part of the solution and make a real difference in someone’s life. 100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes to funding loans.

IT'S A LOAN, NOT A DONATION

We believe lending alongside thousands of others is one of the most powerful and sustainable ways to create economic and social good. Lending on Kiva creates a partnership of mutual dignity and makes it easy to touch more lives with the same dollar. Fund a loan, get repaid, fund another.

YOU CHOOSE WHERE TO MAKE AN IMPACT

Whether you lend to friends in your community, or people halfway around the world (and for many, it’s both), Kiva creates the opportunity to play a special part in someone else's story. At Kiva, loans aren’t just about money—they’re a way to create connection and relationships.

PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF A LOAN

Kiva started as a pioneer in crowdfunding in 2005, and is constantly innovating to meet people’s diverse lending needs. Whether it’s reinventing microfinance with more flexible terms, supporting community-wide projects or lowering costs to borrowers, we are always testing and learning.

LIFTING ONE, TO LIFT MANY

When a Kiva loan enables someone to grow a business and create opportunity for themselves, it creates opportunities for others as well. That ripple effect can shape the future for a family or an entire community.

Learn more about how Kiva works here: https://www.kiva.org/about/how

## Key features

- Lend as little as $25
- Support entrepreneurs and students
- Re-lend funds for exponential impact
- Browse borrowers by category
- 96% historical repayment rate
- 100% of loan funds go to borrowers

## What do users think of Kiva?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 💡 Great idea!
- 👍 Changing lives around the world
- 👍 Practical help to others
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Awesome way to help others
- 👍 Helping People!
- 👍 Personal joy
- 👍 Great Initiative
- 👍 Great way to make a difference
- 👍 Developers fixed problems
- 👍 Awesome way to help others
- 👍 Easy to Help
- 👍 Love this app
- 👍 That one thing
- 👍 Awesome!
- 👍 Finding ways to do good!
- 👍 Great service
- 👍 Easy to use and for a good cause
- 👍 Kiva let's me bless others easily
- 👍 Cool Sharing
- 👍 An excellent giving app
- 👍 Accessible Micro-lending to Help Globally
- 👍 A great way to give
- 👍 Must-Try App
- 👍 I love being able to change peoples lives one person at a time
- 👍 Convenient
- 👍 Doing the right thing has never been easier
- 👍 Fantastic organization!
- 👍 Love the app and the concept
- 👍 Love the work of Kiva.
- 👍 Gratitude
- 👍 Make a change
- 👍 Fantastic way to give and get back
- 👍 So great!
- 👍 Love micro lending
- 👍 Easy to give
- 👍 Fun, easy and secure way to give
- 👍 A challenge everyone wins
- 👍 Ton of information in a simple platform
- 👍 Love the App, Love Kiva!
- 👍 Great app for a great cause!
- 👍 Easy way to help

**Cons**

- 🐛 Withdrawing your money is difficult
- 💰 Each loan is $25 which is great but then they force you to pay an additional $5 for Kiva to pocket. That's 20% they pocket!
- 🐛 Software bug
- 💰 Risk for you. No risk for them
- 🐛 Frustrating.
- 🐛 Needs link to team activity

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Withdrawing your money is difficult
- Software bug
- Unable to add loan to basket

**Most requested features**

- More loans that about to end & more loans that are in range of $25 to $100 that need closing
- Link to team activity
- Ability to see a loans ending soon sort for loans already identified for support by others in my team
- Saved searches
- Access to all menus and options (without having to scroll around on the main page)
- Documentation of previously completed loans

## Recent user reviews (10 of 118)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kiva-lend-for-good/id1453093374/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Why?

*2026-08-20, version 7.1.3*

Kiva attempts to course you to donate five dollars with every single person you help on their platform, by defaulting to a five dollar donation per each individual you put in your basket. In addition when you personally get paid back their settings, have it defaulted as to where they get the money if you do not sign in in aceta amount of time. I really like to help the individuals who are seeking help however, it is not my job to be badgered for money every time I help someone around the world. Originally this was a great platform, however, when you review all of the ways that they get money, how they treat everyone, the fact you don’t get the interest that the end person is paying, you are the one who takes all the risk and the fact that they force every person on the platform to pay use Kiva to Microfinance their loans, it is apparent Kiva is only in existence for to make someone in the developed world rich. Even if it is a “nonprofit”.

### 5/5 — Rewarding to help others

*2026-06-27, version 7.0.0*

Over the last five years, I have loaned nearly $700 in small, $25 micro loans to hundreds of people across the globe. The repayment rate is somewhere around 97%. Knowing I am making a tangible difference in the lives of the poorest people around the world by providing them with the capital to invest in themselves and their families is the most rewarding feeling in the world. I absolutely love Kiva.

### 5/5 — Kiva lending made easy

*2026-06-03, version 7.0.0*

Kiva’s app is easy to use, providing prompts on loans that fit my portfolio and allowing search by country and lending themes (types of ventures). It’s inspiring to read about the farmers and micro-entrepreneurs —and the risk rating is helpful too.

### 5/5 — So easy to help business that hires others

*2026-05-08, version 7.0.0*

I loaned $25 dollars 15 years ago and as it is payed back I just reinvest in someone else. Imagine! The same $25 helping over and over again.

### 5/5 — Just do it!

*2026-02-01, version 7.0.0*

There are so many hardworking people around the world that need your help and this makes it easy!

### 5/5 — Gambling For Good

*2025-12-26, version 7.0.0*

One of my favorite things to do was gamble. Then one day a friend said, why not use your gambles for good. They showed me Kiva. Now, I take my gambles out of the casino and around the world to help others build their dream life.

### 5/5 — Great idea!

*2025-11-03, version 7.0.0*

Love the idea! Great way to help others!

### 1/5 — garbage

*2025-09-03, version 7.0.0*

garbage

### 5/5 — Think about it

*2025-09-02, version 7.0.0*

Well, our bank gives us three cents of interest per month on about $10,000. Really what’s the point of keeping money in a bank when you could lend that same money out not make any interest least help someone’s life get better significantly? Or I suppose you could help the banks get richer.

### 5/5 — Changing lives around the world

*2025-08-19, version 7.0.0*

To be able to provide much needed assistance to people all around the world to help elevate their lives is a wonderful thing. To be able to do it while sitting on your couch or on your lunch break doesn’t get any easier to champion someone else and help them fulfill their goals and dreams. This is a wonderful app. With a phenomenal world changing vision.

## Frequently asked questions about Kiva

### What is Kiva?

Kiva is an international nonprofit that allows individuals to lend money to entrepreneurs and students in underserved communities around the world. It operates on a crowdfunding model, enabling users to fund microfinance loans with as little as $25.

### How does Kiva work?

Users can browse profiles of borrowers, choose someone to support, and make a loan starting at $25. Once the loan is repaid by the borrower, users can choose to re-lend the funds to another borrower or withdraw their money.

### Is Kiva a donation or a loan?

Kiva is a loan, not a donation. Borrowers are expected to repay the loans, and historically, Kiva borrowers have a 96% repayment rate. This allows your initial loan amount to be re-lent multiple times, creating a sustainable impact.

### What kind of people can I lend to?

You can lend to a wide range of individuals, including entrepreneurs starting or growing businesses, students seeking to fund their education, farmers investing in equipment, and families needing emergency care. Borrowers are from over 90 countries.

### Is there a cost to use Kiva?

The Kiva app itself is free to use. 100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes directly to funding loans for borrowers. There are no fees for users to lend or for borrowers to receive loans.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 7.1.3 — 2026-08-04

Completed important maintenance.

### 7.1.2 — 2026-07-29

Completed important maintenance.

### 7.1.1 — 2026-07-22

Completed important maintenance.

### 7.1.0 — 2026-07-02

Completed important maintenance.

### 7.0.0 — 2025-06-17

Completed important maintenance and security updates.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-28.*
