Back in November last year I wrote about a new lending organization called United Prosperity that has a new take on microfinance lending.  United Prosperity recently launched the full version of their website, which allows its lenders to guarantee loans for entrepreneurs rather than loan money to directly the the entrepreneurs.
Here’s some more information about United Prosperity:

United Prosperity is a non-profit organization that helps you combat extreme global poverty powerfully by multiplying the impact of your money through loan guarantees. We are the world’s first person to person loan guaranteeing website.  You can become a compassionate social guarantor with United Prosperity by providing an interest-free cash collateral or guarantee for an entrepreneur on our website. No minimum amount is required, and you are able to choose which entrepreneurs you would like to support.

The biggest question that I had when I was surfing the site was why should I choose United Prosperity over other sites?  Of course, a few minutes later, I found my answer.  Here are some good examples of how United Prosperity is different:

Example A: Providing a loan to a poor entrepreneur: A poor entrepreneur needs a $1,000 loan. Ten lenders could each contribute $100 to make a loan of $1000 to the poor entrepreneur.Thus a total $1000 in contributions results in $1000 of loans made to the poor entrepreneur. On an individual basis, a $100 contribution results in a $100 loan to a poor entrepreneur.

Example B: Providing a loan guarantee to a poor entrepreneur through United Prosperity: Guarantee amounts are typically only a portion of the loan amount. For example, for a bank to lend $1000 to a poor entrepreneur, it might require a guarantee of only $200. Thus 2 social guarantors could each contribute only $100 and cover the $200 guarantee needed and thereby make a $1,000 loan available to the poor entrepreneur.Thus $200 in guarantees results in $1000 loans available to the poor entrepreneur. On an individual basis, $100 loan guarantee results in $500 of lending to a poor entrepreneur.

We maximize the impact of your dollar:
For every $1 you put toward a guarantee, you will allow nearly $2 or more in microloan to the entrepreneur from local banks either directly or through our partners. Better yet, you will be able to track your chosen entrepreneur’s progress, and when they repay their loan, you will be repaid in full! At that point you will have the opportunity to support another entrepreneur if you wish.

Although the website has a lot of information, it is easy to navigate.  United Prosperity does a really good job explaining what the benefits and risks of microfinance are but still manages to have the human touch, rather than just being a website full of information.  They have a team blog were members of the organization write updates, as well as a great community page which allows lenders (and even non-lenders) to share insight about the platform as well as microfinance in general.

I just made my first loan of $25, does anybody want to match me