EBay: The Place for Microfinance

Ebay, the internet auction site, is getting into the micro-loan business, by which investors can provide loans for $50 or more to small businesses. “The key to micro-lending is that it fosters self-reliance and, eventually, sustainable economic growth in a way that charity does not,” says Tracey Pettengill Turner, as reported by Catherine Holahan in Businessweek.com. Turner started MicroPlace.com, a micro-lending site and since sold it to eBay. That online micro-loan site and others like Prosper.com work with non-governmental organizations in countries to identify viable projects. Turner began her career by starting an online database of non-profit groups, and then went to work for the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the micro-loan program of which was recognized with the 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace. As lender, Turner has witnessed time and time again how small amounts of capital – to purchase a weaving loom or other small piece of equipment – can launch a business and lift an entire family out of poverty. – YaleGlobal